Palestinians living in the ruins of Gaza City have been bombarded with Israeli leaflets ordering them out, after Israel said it was about to obliterate the area in an assault to wipe out Hamas, causing panic and confusion.
Residents of the city, the enclave's biggest urban centre that was home to a million Palestinians before the war, have been expecting an onslaught for weeks, since the Israeli government devised a plan designed to deal Hamas a fatal blow in what it says are the militant group's last strongholds.
"I say to the residents of Gaza, take this opportunity and listen to me carefully: you have been warned — get out of there!" Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said.
Watch: Evacuation order leaflets being dropped into Gaza City
The Israeli military airdropped leaflets with evacuation orders onto residents standing amid the rubble of Gaza City, where it has bombed residential towers to the ground in the past few days.
The evacuation orders rattled the city's residents who say there is no safe place to go to escape bombardment and a humanitarian crisis.
Some said they would have no choice but to leave for the south, but many said they would stay and there were no immediate signs of a mass exodus.Anxiety was spreading through a tent area in Gaza City, housing displaced cancer patients.
"There's no place left, not in the south, nor the north, nothing. We've become completely trapped," said one of the patients, Bajess al-Khaldi, as people looked at the rubble of several buildings destroyed in an Israeli attack.
An AFP journalist in the Qatari capital reported explosions rocking a Hamas compound in the city.
Displacement is a profound issue for Palestinians who fear that Mr Netanyahu and his far-right allies in government want a repeat of the "Nakba", or "catastrophe", when hundreds of thousands of people fled or were driven out during the 1948 war that accompanied Israel's creation.
Israel has been widely accused of genocide, including by the world's biggest group of genocide scholars, over its nearly two-year campaign in the Palestinian enclave that has killed more than 64,000 people according to local authorities.
Israel rejects the accusation, citing its right to self-defence following the 7 October 2023 attack by Hamas militants that killed 1,200 people and resulted in the capture of 251 hostages, according to Israeli figures.
The health authorities in Gaza announced they would not evacuate Gaza City's two main operational hospitals, Al Shifa and Al Ahli, adding that doctors would not leave patients unattended.
Most Gazans have already been displaced several times since the war started, much of the territory lies in ruins and a hunger crisis has grown far worse in recent months.
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The Israeli military has instructed residents in Gaza City to move to a designated "humanitarian zone" in the already overcrowded Al-Mawasi area along the coast in the south, where thousands of Palestinians have already been sheltering in tents. Israel has also regularly bombed the south.
Um Samed, a 59-year-old mother of five, said the choice now was whether "to stay and die at home in Gaza City, or follow Israel's orders and leave Gaza and die in the south".
Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz said yesterday the military would unleash a "mighty hurricane" that would destroy Gaza if Hamas did not free the last hostages it holds and surrender.
Israel has called up tens of thousands of reservists for a ground operation.
Mr Netanyahu said Israeli forces were organising and assembling into Gaza City.
The full-scale operation is not yet expected to start in the coming week, and no new advance by tanks to deepen the ground offensive was reported so far today.
Israeli forces have been operating on Gaza City's outskirts since last month, and the military said it was in control of 40% of the city already.
Launching the new Israeli assault could complicate ceasefire efforts to end the nearly two-year war.
Hopes had been pinned on mediation efforts to reach a ceasefire that would avert Israel's plan.
International critics say Israel's Gaza plan, which includes demilitarising the whole of Gaza as Israel takes security control, could worsen the humanitarian plight of the 2.2 million Palestinians who live there.
The Gaza City assault plan has provoked concern inside Israel, where public support for the war has wavered. Israel's military leadership has warned Mr Netanyahu against expanding the war, according to Israeli officials.
Families of Israeli hostages and their supporters fear the attack could endanger the captives.
Mr Netanyahu says he is acting out of Israel's interest by moving to finish off Hamas in order to safeguard his country against any more attacks.
Israel also ordered the demolition of homes in the West Bank hometowns of two Palestinian gunmen who killed six people in an attack on a bus stop on the outskirts of Jerusalem.
Mr Netanyahu says Israel has no choice but to complete the job in Gaza and defeat Hamas, given that the militant group has refused to lay down its arms.
Hamas says it will not disarm unless an independent Palestinian state is established, and will not free all hostages without an agreement ending the war.
International criticism
Several European countries, angered by Israel's bombardment in Gaza, have said they will recognise Palestinian statehood this month when the United Nations General Assembly convenes in New York. Israel and its main ally the United States reject the recognition moves.
International critics say Israel's plan, which includes demilitarising the whole strip as Israel takes security control, could worsen the humanitarian plight of the 2.2 million Palestinians who live there.
Israel has come under pressure from Arab and Western nations over its conduct in the war in Gaza. A global hunger monitor relied on by the United Nations has declared famine in areas including Gaza City.
A flotilla seeking to break Israel's naval blockade and bring aid to Gaza said today one of its main boats had been struck by a drone at a port in Tunisia, though all six passengers and crew were safe.
The flotilla includes Swedish activist Greta Thunberg, who in an earlier attempt to reach Gaza in June was captured at sea by Israel and deported.
