IDF releases recording of Gazan describing Hamas violence against civilians trying to flee the warzone in northern Gaza.
By Mindy Rubenstein, World Israel News
Hamas is blocking the exit for civilians in Gaza, as military officials repeatedly exhort residents there to move south as it prepares for a ground incursion.
Tens of thousands who evacuated northern Gaza have since returned, the UN says.
The IDF Spokesperson’s Unit declared that Hamas is continuing to prevent residents of the Gaza Strip from moving to a safe area.
Newly released audio reveals a Gazan man telling an IDF officer that Hamas is blocking people from fleeing the northern Gaza Strip, as strikes on the enclave continued to intensify.
“All the roads are blocked,” the Gazan man says. “People are walking, and they are just sent back home. They are shooting at people who want to leave.”
The IDF has publicly called several times for Gaza Strip residents to move from the north to the south to maintain their safety from IDF strikes and the fight against Hamas as part of the “Swords of Iron” operation.
“The Hamas terror group continues to use the residents of Gaza as human shields and prevent them from evacuating to the south, as we saw in the past, by placing barriers that the terror group set up,” the IDF said in a statement.
On October 7, around 2,500 terrorists led by Hamas crossed the border into Israel from the Gaza Strip by land, air, and sea, killing some 1,400 people, mostly civilians, and seizing at least 228 hostages, as thousands of rockets have been fired at Israeli towns and cities.
Israeli military officials have said they are determined to crush Hamas and the focus will be on the north, including Gaza City, where Israel says key Hamas tunnels and bunkers are located. The IDF says it is making efforts to prevent civilian casualties, including evacuation instructions.
Israel says more than 550 rockets fired by terror groups at Israel by Hamas have landed inside Gaza since the war began. Meanwhile, continued barrages of rockets fired at Israel from Gaza and terror group Hezbollah have displaced more than 200,000 Israelis.
Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has announced that a ground military offensive was inevitable in the Gaza Strip to destroy Hamas and to bring normalcy in the region.
Here is the transcription of the conversation as distributed by the IDF Spokesperson:
Gaza resident: Hello?
Speaker: Mohammad?
Gaza resident: Yes.
Speaker: How are you?
Gaza resident: Yes.
Speaker: I’m an officer from the IDF, to ensure your personal safety, I’m asking you to head towards Khan Yunis immediately.
Gaza resident: Where to?
Speaker: Towards Khan Yunis immediately, I don’t want you to endanger yourself, that’s why I’m telling you to go to Khan Yunis.
Gaza resident: All the roads are blocked.
Speaker: Where you are now is dangerous. You need…where is it blocked? Who blocked the road? Hamas?
Gaza resident: Yes.
Speaker: What?
Gaza resident: Yes…correct.
Speaker: Where did they block the road?
Gaza resident: At Salah al-Din Street.
Speaker: Salah al-Din?
Gaza resident: Yes.
Speaker: How did they block the road?
Gaza resident: They’re just sending people back home.
Speaker: Are they putting up cars? Police or…
Gaza resident: Yes, yes.
Speaker: How exactly? Please explain it to me, did you see this with your own eyes?
Gaza resident: With vehicles…people are walking, and they are simply sent back home.
Speaker: How did they block the road? Please explain it to me.
Gaza resident: They are shooting at people.
Speaker: What are they shooting? They are shooting at people who want to leave?
Gaza resident: Yes, yes, yes.