IDF Issues Final Evacuation Call as Gaza City Encirclement Nears Completion
Israel’s army has issued a last call for Palestinians to leave Gaza City as its forces move closer to fully encircling the area in their campaign against Hamas.
Defense Minister Israel Katz announced Wednesday that the IDF had retaken the western portion of the Netzarim Corridor, a move that effectively splits the Gaza Strip in two.
“This will tighten the encirclement around Gaza City, and anyone leaving it southward will have to pass through the IDF’s inspection checkpoints,” Katz said. “This is the last chance for Gaza residents who are interested in moving southward and leaving Hamas terrorists isolated in Gaza City in the face of IDF activity that continues at full strength.
“Those who remain in Gaza [City] will be terrorists and terror supporters,” Katz continued. “The IDF is preparing for all possibilities and is determined to continue its operations, until the return of all the hostages and the disarmament of Hamas, en route to ending the war.”
In its Wednesday update, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) reported a series of ground operations in Gaza City and its outskirts.
The military said troops from the 36th Division raided a Hamas site, seizing weapons and equipment, while the 162nd Division directed a drone strike that killed several operatives.
The IDF added that the 98th Division uncovered abandoned Hamas positions containing weapons and struck a weapons depot, killing additional fighters. On Gaza City’s outskirts, the 99th Division killed operatives who posed a threat and targeted militant infrastructure, the army said.
Medical sources in Gaza reported at least 35 Palestinians killed by Israeli fire in the past day.
Meanwhile, Hamas is still weighing a U.S.-backed ceasefire proposal already accepted by Israel. President Donald Trump said Tuesday that the group has “three or four days” to respond, warning that if Hamas rejects the plan, Israel would have full U.S. support to continue its military campaign.
Under the proposal, Hamas would be required to disarm, release all hostages within 72 hours, and relinquish power in exchange for an Israeli withdrawal and the release of Palestinian prisoners.
“Accepting the plan is a disaster, rejecting it is another, there are only bitter choices here, but the plan is a [Benjamin] Netanyahu plan articulated by [Donald] Trump,” a Palestinian official told Reuters. “Hamas is keen to end the war and end the genocide and it will respond in the way that serves the higher interests of the Palestinian people,” he added.
