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The Israeli army is preparing to launch a large-scale attack on Gaza City and has been calling on residents to leave immediately for days
On Monday, Israel once again demanded the immediate evacuation of over one million residents of Gaza City and issued a final ultimatum to Hamas, stating that if Hamas does not release the remaining hostages and surrender, the Israeli military will intensify its airstrikes and ground operations on the Gaza Strip in a "powerful hurricane" and completely destroy Gaza.
The Israeli military's attack on Gaza City is becoming increasingly fierce. On Monday (September 8), Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu issued a video statement saying, "In two days, we destroyed 50 buildings, which is just the beginning of an increased ground offensive on Gaza City. I want to say to the residents of Gaza City: You have received warnings, evacuate now
He pointed out that the Israeli army is organizing and assembling, preparing to enter Gaza City. It is currently unclear when the Israeli military will launch a full-scale attack on Gaza City.
On Tuesday (9th), the military issued a statement on social media platform X, stating that they will take greater action in Gaza City and warning residents to evacuate. Currently, about 100000 residents have been evacuated.
According to Israeli media reports, this is the first time the Israeli military has issued a city wide evacuation order before launching a large-scale ground attack on Hamas in Gaza City.
Reuters reported that the evacuation order has made local residents feel uneasy, fearing that there is no safe place to escape the bombing and humanitarian crisis. Some people have expressed that they have no choice but to go to the south, but many have stayed temporarily and there are currently no signs of large-scale exodus.
According to the evacuation leaflets released by the Israeli military, the entire Gaza City has been designated as an evacuation zone from east to west, requiring residents to evacuate south along the coast to the Mawasi humanitarian aid zone in Khan Younis, southern Gaza, where there are field hospitals, water pipelines, seawater desalination facilities, and food supplies.
Israel has been continuously destroying high-rise buildings in Gaza City in recent days, eliminating these potential ambush points. The Israeli side accuses Hamas of using high-rise buildings to survey Israeli military movements, collect intelligence, plan and launch attacks against the Israeli army. However, Hamas denies doing so.
Gaza's civil defense agency said that at least 39 people were killed by Israeli artillery fire on Monday, including 25 deaths in Gaza City.
The Israel Defense Forces issued a statement on Monday stating that four Israeli soldiers were killed in an attack near Gaza City on the morning of the 8th. Preliminary investigation shows that these soldiers were attacked by three Hamas militants when they returned to their camp outside the Sheikh Radwan community in northern Gaza City in a tank after ending their night operation. Armed militants threw an explosive into the tank hatch and engaged in gunfire with other Israeli soldiers.
Since the outbreak of the Israel Kazakhstan conflict in October 2023, 459 Israeli soldiers have been killed in the Gaza Strip, and Gaza health officials have confirmed over 64000 Palestinian deaths.
The Red Cross pointed out on Monday that more than 300 tents have been distributed to refugee camps in southern Gaza recently, but these are far from meeting the actual needs.
It said that although more than 1500 tents are expected to be transported in the coming days, hundreds of thousands of people urgently need a large number of new tents or waterproof tarpaulins due to the wear and tear of previously distributed supplies. The United Nations estimates that over 1.3 million people in Gaza urgently need tents for shelter.
On the other hand, Qatari Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Mohammed put pressure on Hamas leaders during the Doha talks on Monday to actively respond to the latest Gaza ceasefire agreement proposed by the United States.
However, Hamas senior official Naim also stated that the US proposal for a ceasefire in Gaza is only a preliminary idea and not aimed at reaching an agreement that can truly end the war.
US President Trump warned Hamas on Sunday to accept the ceasefire agreement as soon as possible, otherwise the consequences will be borne by themselves. US media revealed that White House Middle East envoy Witkov submitted a new Gaza hostage and ceasefire agreement proposal to Hamas last week. Hamas announced on Sunday that it has received some ideas from the United States regarding a ceasefire agreement and is ready to immediately return to the negotiating table.
According to Israeli media reports, the agreement requires Hamas to release the remaining 48 hostages on the first day of the ceasefire in exchange for thousands of Palestinian prisoners being held by Israel, and to negotiate an end to the war during the ceasefire period. Israel estimates that only about 20 of the hostages currently being held are still alive. |
