Gazans arrive in central Gaza after fleeing from Rafah on May 9, 2024. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)
The army said roughly 300,000 residents have already left Gaza City, though Hamas has attempted to prevent civilians from evacuating.
By Vered Weiss, World Israel News
Israel’s Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT) said Sunday that Hamas officials are trying to flee Gaza with their families while ordering residents to remain in Gaza City as human shields.
“While Hamas calls the residents of Gaza City not to move south, its operatives fear for their own lives and are seeking to leave the Gaza Strip,” COGAT wrote on X. “They are using residents of northern Gaza as human shields while looking out for their own interests.”
COGAT chief Maj. Gen. Ghassan Alian said requests have been submitted by senior Hamas figures for family members to leave the Strip, with some officials asking to depart themselves. He said Israel denied the requests. Among those named were Muhammad Madhoun, a minister in the Hamas government; relatives of Isma’il al-Ashqar, head of Hamas’s Foreign Affairs and Security Committee; and the family of Alaa a-Din Bata, head of a Hamas committee.
Alian noted that Anwar Atallah, a member of the Gaza City Council, had already fled with his family two weeks ago, leaving through a mechanism operated by Israel that allows Gazans to travel via Jordan to a third country.
“Hamas’s hypocrisy is blatant,” Alian said on Facebook. “While its operatives try to flee the Strip with their families, the organization abandons the residents of Gaza and exerts psychological terror on them to remain in Gaza City as human shields.”
He added that Hamas is endangering families and “sacrifices the entire Strip on the altar of terror.”
On Sunday, the IDF issued evacuation calls in Arabic urging civilians in areas of Gaza City, including the Port and Al-Rimal neighborhoods, to leave.
Lt. Col. Avichay Adraee, the army’s Arabic-language spokesperson, said the military was preparing to strike a building housing Hamas infrastructure.
It was the fourth evacuation call that day as the IDF escalates strikes on Hamas targets in Gaza City and prepares for expanded ground operations.
The army said roughly 300,000 residents have already left Gaza City, though Hamas has attempted to prevent civilians from evacuating.
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