JERUSALEM, Israel – Israel has told more than 1 million Palestinian civilians to evacuate northern Gaza in the next 24 hours, a warning that signals a wider offensive is imminent as the country works to defeat an enemy that committed the worst atrocity against the Jewish people since the Holocaust.
Israel Tells Gazans to Evacuate
“Civilians of Gaza City, evacuate south for your own safety and the safety of your families and distance yourself from Hamas terrorists who are using you as human shields,” the IDF said. “Hamas terrorists are hiding in Gaza City inside tunnels underneath houses and inside buildings populated with innocent Gazan civilians.”
However, Hamas told civilians to ignore Israel’s warnings and stay home and continued to fire rockets into southern Israel: “Do not follow the propaganda evacuation instructions.”
The UN said early Friday it was impossible to move that many people “without devastating humanitarian consequences” and asked Israel to rescind the evacuation order.
Still, Israeli leaders see the move as proof that the IDF is working to avoid civilian casualties as it carries out its heaviest air strikes on Gaza ever.
“We are not seeing the residents of Gaza Strip as our enemies,” said Ambassador Gilad Cohen, Israel’s Ambassador to Japan. “Hamas is our enemy. Hamas is our enemy and will pay the price of what it did to us. People are saying, ‘Israel is revenging,’ no, no, no, it’s not revenge. How can you revenge one-year-old baby, that they shot him in the head? What is the revenge for it? There is no revenge for it. This is just a war. An operational strategy of Israel to eliminate Hamas of its power.”
Israel’s Emergency Government Sworn In
Thursday night, Israel’s new emergency government was sworn in.
“Since Oct. 7, 2023 at six o’clock in the morning, because of the war that was forced on the State of Israel through a murderous terrorist attack from the Gaza Strip and after that I was convinced that the authority is required because of the security of the State,” said Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
The new government includes former IDF Chief of Staff Benny Gantz and several members of the opposition parties.
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