Large-scale evacuation of Gazans from north Gaza, Gaza City to begin soon

Hamas distributed media messages to deter residents from moving south, in order to continue using them as human shields.

The large-scale movement of the population from northern Gaza and Gaza City is expected to begin soon, according to officers in the Southern Command.

Estimates suggest that hundreds of thousands of Palestinians will move to shelter areas in the southern Gaza Strip. The officers said that the transfer will be accompanied by the distribution of leaflets and media announcements to residents of the Strip. The move will also be accompanied by intensified ground and air operations.

Additionally, thousands of tents and shelter equipment entered Gaza on Thursday, COGAT said on X/Twitter, in preparation for the IDF's plans. Tens of thousands more tents are in the pipeline and are expected to enter Gaza in the coming days.

"COGAT, together with international partners, is working to ensure the population has humanitarian supplies, including food, medical supplies, and shelter equipment," the agency said.

The defense establishment estimates that between 70,000 and 80,000 residents have left Gaza City for the south over the past two weeks due to fears of an escalation in fighting by Israel.

Hamas fears the movement of residents, who are used by the group as human shields, and is therefore trying to prevent it. After IDF Arabic-language spokesperson Avichay Adraee published messages to Gaza residents about designated humanitarian zones in the Strip,

Hamas’s Government Information Office claimed that the Al-Mawasi area and the central camps were not suitable for absorbing evacuees, warning of suffering, overcrowding, and hunger. A channel operated by Hamas’s military wing told residents that the announcement was merely “a deception to force residents to evacuate to areas near our positions, where they continue to be targets for attacks.”

Ahead of the implementation of the plan to capture Gaza City, which is expected to include the evacuation of the city’s population to the south, security officials told Walla that Hamas has launched a new campaign against the movement of Palestinians.

Hamas distributes media messages to deter residents from moving south

As part of the campaign, Hamas distributed media messages to deter residents from moving south, in order to continue using them as human shields.

Hamas also began distributing leaflets forbidding residents from leaving and claimed that prices in Gaza City were being reduced, in an attempt to keep the population in place.

The IDF has received testimonies, including video documentation, showing Palestinians from the Zeitoun neighborhood evacuating south, saying, “There is no other place we want to go.”

Residents expressed concern over their inability to afford rent in a new location if they fail to find tents in the shelter areas in the south.

Jerusalem Post Staff contributed to this report.