As Israel continues air strikes in Gaza and masses troops for a ground assault on Saturday, Palestinians flee the Strip, Reuters reports.
Thousands of Palestinians fled the north of the Gaza Strip from the path of an expected Israeli ground assault on Saturday, while Israel said it kept two roads open to let people escape.
“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 Israeli Defense Forces announced.
The order includes the whole of Gaza City and two major refugee camps, Jabalya and Beach Camp. It also includes the towns of Beit Hanoun and Beit Lahia, which are both adjacent to the main Erez crossing point at the northern end of the Strip.
Israel has vowed to annihilate the Hamas militant group that controls Gaza in retaliation for a bloody rampage by Hamas fighters, who stormed through Israeli towns a week ago.
The Hamas terrorists killed some 1,300 civilians and made of with 150 hostages threatening to kill them if Israel tries to retaliate.
This was the worst attack on civilians in Israel’s history.
Israeli Forces put Gaza on Siege
Gaza Strip, home to 2.3 million Palestinians, is under a total siege and bombarded with unprecedented air strikes by the Israeli forces.
It is estimated that some 300,000 IDF reservists have amassed near the border. Israel’s Energy Minister Israel Katz said on Thursday that the siege of Gaza will not end until Israeli hostages are released.
Gaza authorities say more than 2,200 people have been killed, a quarter of them children, and nearly 10,000 people are wounded.
Israel had given the entire population of the northern half of the Gaza Strip, which includes the enclave’s biggest settlement Gaza City, until Saturday morning to move to south Gaza within the next 24 hours.
Troops are massing around the Gaza Strip, “getting ready for the next stage of operations,” military spokesperson Lieutenant Colonel Jonathan Conricus said.
UN Spokesperson, Stéphane Dujarric, said that UN representatives in Gaza had been told by Israeli military liaison officers everyone living north of Wadi Gaza should relocate to southern Gaza.
Hamas says Some Hostages are Killed
Hamas’ armed wing said nine captives including four foreigners had been killed overnight because of the Israeli air strikes. It has previously threatened to kill one hostage for every building Israel strikes without warning.
Hamas missile strikes continue into Israeli cities. Air raid sirens wailed in central Israel on Saturday and rockets smashed into a greenhouse in Ashkelon and wounded four people at a kibbutz.
The Israeli siege has failed to stop the Hamas air strikes which continued on Saturday. Hamas has vowed to fight until the last drop of blood, and says the order to leave the north of the enclave is a trick to force residents to give up their homes.
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