Hamas Tells Gaza Residents To Defy Evacuation Order

Hamas has reportedly told residents of Gaza to defy the orders of Israel to evacuate south ahead of an anticipated ground offensive on the Palestinian exclave, portraying it as "false propaganda" and "psychological warfare."

In an announcement sent in the early hours of Friday morning, the Israel Defense Force (IDF) told civilians in Gaza City to leave their homes and head south of the Gaza River, describing it as "for your own safety and the safety of your families."

"You will be able to return to Gaza City only when another announcement permitting it is made," the statement said. "Hamas terrorists are hiding in Gaza City inside tunnels underneath houses and inside buildings populated with innocent Gazan civilians."

However, according to Israeli news outlet N12, shortly after the proclamation was made, the Hamas-run Interior Ministry of Gaza accused Israel of "trying to spread false propaganda to sow confusion among the residents of Gaza."

"Do not cooperate with these attempts which constitute psychological warfare," it said. The IDF confirmed a short while ago that "Hamas is telling Gaza residents to ignore our safety instructions."

Newsweek approached the Ministry of Interior and National Security in Gaza via email for comment on Friday.

The order follows notification from Israel to the U.N. to evacuate 1.1 million people living in northern Gaza within 24 hours, the Associated Press reported—around half the population of the entire strip.

U.N. aid workers have been told to leave northern Gaza for Rafah, a city further south, while Nebal Farsakh, spokesperson for the Palestinian Red Crescent in Gaza City, told AP that there were patients in hospitals who could not be moved.

Since Israel's defense minister, Yoav Gallant, ordered a "complete siege" of Gaza, including the cutting off of water, power and food supply, there has been a worsening humanitarian crisis, amid claims aid was being stopped from entering.

After militants entered Israel through multiple means and carried out surprise attacks on areas bordering Gaza, the Israeli Air Force has conducted intensive air strikes on targets in the exclave. While it has forewarned civilians in those areas, so far 1,537 have died in Gaza and 6,612 have been people injured, AP reported, citing Gaza Health Ministry figures.

The evacuation order suggests the IDF is preparing to launch a ground assault on Hamas and Islamic Jihad militants within the Gaza Strip, as has been widely anticipated since they launched a large-scale assault on Israel at the weekend, though Israeli officials have remained tight-lipped about their plans.

Perhaps tellingly, the IDF said that "in the following days, the IDF will continue to operate significantly in Gaza City and make extensive efforts to avoid harming civilians."

Gaza is one of the most densely populated regions in the world, measuring 141 square miles in total, meaning buildings in its urban areas are tightly grouped together.

Military experts have said this poses a challenging operational environment for the IDF, with any possible ground offensive risking high civilian casualties and troop losses, while militants will have had time to prepare defensive measures.

"This attack that's taken place [on Israel] obviously took months of planning—and part of that planning would be to prepare for Israel's reaction," Colonel Richard Kemp, a retired British Army officer who commanded a battalion during the war in Afghanistan, previously told Newsweek. "The whole area is going to be sown up with booby traps, mines, sniper positions, ambushes, attack tunnels—you name it."

He said it was in Hamas' interest to have civilian casualties at the hands of the IDF "so they can use that to isolate, vilify, condemn Israel…on the world stage, which they've been extremely successful at."

Lebanese Islamist militant group Hezbollah has threatened an attack on Israel if it conducts a ground invasion of Gaza, while Iranian-backed militias have also vowed to join the fight if the U.S. intervenes, after two carrier strike groups were dispatched to the eastern Mediterranean.

Update 10/13/23, 5:00 a.m. ET: This article was updated to include further details throughout.

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