IDF begins evacuation of Gaza City as Netanyahu calls special cabinet meeting to approve ground op

Israel coordinating with Gaza medical officials and international groups to begin work evacuating some 850,000 Gazans, as special security cabinet set to convene to give final approval for takeover of Gaza City.

By David Rosenberg, World Israel News

The Israeli military has begun preparing Gaza medical officials and international aid workers for the mass relocation of Gazans from the northern Gaza Strip, marking the first stage in the evacuation process.

Officers from the IDF’s Gaza liaison office began notifying health officials in Gaza, along with international aid groups, requesting that they gear up for the pending evacuation of the civilian population of northern Gaza, including Gaza City.

In their calls with Gaza health officials and international workers, the IDF officers emphasized that hospitals in southern Gaza will need to be “adapted” to receive additional patients evacuated from northern Gaza.

According to a statement by the IDF on Thursday, the calls began on Tuesday.

As part of the preparations, the IDF said, Israeli military liaisons are coordinating the increased entry of medical aid into Gaza to help facilitate the expansion of hospital operations in southern Gaza.

In one conversation between an IDF liaison officer and a senior Gaza health official, which was published by the Israeli military, the officer said that the coming evacuation would likely leave all of Gaza’s civilian population in the southern Strip.

“I am speaking with you about the possibility of the army entering Gaza City — there will be a full evacuation from Gaza to the southern Strip,” the officer said.

“This requires you to prepare a plan for transferring medical equipment from north to south, so that you can provide care for all patients in the southern Strip and prepare hospitals to receive those coming from the north. It is important to us that you receive this from an official source. We are going to provide you with a place where you can be — whether it be a field hospital or any other hospital.”

No date has been given for the evacuations, but they are expected to take place before the operation in Gaza City begins.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is slated to convene a meeting of the narrow security cabinet on Thursday to give final approval for the IDF’s plans to seize control of Gaza City.

The full security cabinet gave initial approval to the proposal earlier this month, with the IDF finalizing the plan a week later.

Israel has announced call-up orders for 60,000 reservists in September, mobilizing additional forces for the Gaza City takeover.

This week, Israeli troops entered the outskirts of Gaza City in preparation for the move into Gaza City.

The operation is complicated by the presence of some 850,000 civilians in and around Gaza City, requiring their evacuation to southern Gaza and the establishment of additional humanitarian infrastructure.

Israel is slated to build at least 10 new aid centers in southern Gaza to support the evacuees.

Hamas has claimed the takeover of Gaza City would entail the evacuation of at least 1.2 million people.