DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip (AP) — Israel's military told Gaza City residents on Tuesday to evacuate ahead of its planned offensive to take control of what it portrays as Hamas’ last remaining stronghold and where hundreds of thousands of people remain struggling under conditions of famine.
The warning came hours before Israel launched a strike targeting Hamas’ leaders in Qatar, intensifying its campaign against the militant group and endangering negotiations over ending the war in Gaza.
The alerts directed at Gaza City were the first calling for a full evacuation. Until now, the military has only told specific sections of the northern city to evacuate ahead of operations or strikes.
Associated Press reporters saw lines of cars and trucks leaving Tuesday, more than previous days. Children and adults sat atop mounds of blankets, pillows, chairs, and clothing piled high on trucks and wagons.
Residents with nowhere to go
In the wake of escalating hostilities and calls to evacuate Gaza City, the number of people leaving nearly doubled the daily average in recent weeks, a coalition of humanitarian groups monitoring the situation said Tuesday.
But many families remain stuck because of the cost of finding transportation and housing, said Site Management Cluster, which uses eyewitness accounts, social media and information from on the ground to track displacements.
“We were displaced two days ago, and here we are, my wife and I, unfortunately, sleeping in the street," said Hazem Abu Reyash. “There’s no shelter, no tent, nothing, no water, no food.”
An estimated 1 million Palestinians — around half of Gaza’s overall population — live in the area of north Gaza around Gaza City, according to the Israeli military and the United Nations. Many are exhausted from moving multiple times and unsure if traveling south will be safer.
“There’s no place for us. This is the second time we’ve been displaced, paying 800 shekels ($240) for a vehicle and finding nothing,” said Mohammad Ashraf. “We don’t know if God will make things easier for us. God willing, they’ll hit us with nuclear weapons and we’ll find relief.”
Israel says multiple towers destroyed in Gaza City
Israel said it has demolished 50 high-rise buildings in Gaza in the past two days. Israeli leaders accused Hamas of using the buildings for military infrastructure. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said demolishing the high-rises was “only the beginning of the main intensive operation — the ground incursion of our forces.”
First responders rescued two survivors and pulled two bodies from one building on Tuesday, according to the civil defense, part of the Hamas-run Interior Ministry. It said others were trapped under the rubble.
The United Nations agency that oversees Palestinian refugees said Tuesday said the attacks on residential towers had left many families on the streets without shelter or basic necessities.
Israel is urging Palestinians to move to a designated humanitarian zone in the territory’s south. Military spokesperson Col. Avichay Adraee warned last week that the full evacuation of Gaza City was "inevitable,” saying families who leave would receive humanitarian assistance. But aid groups warned there was little infrastructure to support them.
Palestinians and hostage survivors protest Israeli operation
Dozens of Palestinians in Gaza City, including doctors and medical staff, gathered Tuesday to protest the Israeli warnings.
“We will never leave our land … health care workers won’t leave,” said Dr. Muneer al-Boursh, the general director of Gaza’s Health Ministry.
Dr. Rami Mhanna, managing director of Shifa Hospital, said that the facility remained open despite the unease and he didn't notice displacement around the hospital. “But the atmosphere is tense and there is great psychological pressure on the staff and patients," he told the AP after the evacuation warning.
In Jerusalem, families of hostages and former captives in Gaza pleaded with Israel to halt the Gaza City offensive.
“I was held captive by Hamas for 498 days and was released in a deal in February,” Iair Horn, whose brother, Eitan, is still in captivity, told the Knesset's Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee. “If I was released through a deal, then apparently that’s the right way to free the rest of the hostages who remain.”
UN says it costs at least $1,000 to evacuate to southern Gaza
The U. N. humanitarian agency said many displacement sites are overcrowded and that it can cost more than $1,000 in transportation and other costs to move to southern Gaza.
An initiative headed by the U.N. to bring temporary shelters into Gaza said more than 86,000 tents and other supplies were still awaiting clearance to enter Gaza as of last week.
The Israeli defense body overseeing humanitarian aid to Gaza said 1,500 aid trucks mostly carrying food entered Gaza last week, and there are plans to bring in 100,000 tents in the coming weeks.
The war in Gaza began when Hamas-led militants abducted 251 people on Oct. 7, 2023, and killed some 1,200 people, mostly Israeli civilians. Forty-eight hostages are still inside Gaza, around 20 of them believed to be alive.
Israel’s retaliatory offensive has killed at least more than 64,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry, which does not say how many were civilians or combatants. It says around half of those killed were women and children. Large parts of major cities have been completely destroyed and around 90% of some 2 million Palestinians have been displaced.
2 Palestinian teenagers killed in the West Bank
Two 14-year-old Palestinian boys were killed in the Israeli-occupied West Bank on Monday, according to the Ramallah-based Palestinian Health Ministry.
The Israeli military said the incident happened in Jenin when several people approached Israeli soldiers in a way that “posed a threat.” The area was under military closure and entry was prohibited at the time, the military said, without providing further information.
Ahmad Majarmeh, who lives in Jenin, said Israeli soldiers started shooting “randomly” at a group of people collecting belongings from their homes, which they were forced to leave months ago. Majarmeh said his nephew, Islam Majarmeh, was one of the boys killed.
Also in the West Bank, an Israeli investigation continued into two Palestinians who opened fire at a bus stop in Jerusalem on Monday, killing six people. It was the deadliest attack against civilians in Israel in nearly a year.
Hamas claimed responsibility for the attack, but Israel’s Shin Bet internal security service said the two attackers had no known militant ties and no prior arrests.
Defense Minister Israel Katz said Tuesday he placed sanctions on the relatives and residents of the towns where the two attackers are from and canceled 750 work visas for its residents.
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Magdy reported from Cairo and Lidman from Tel Aviv, Israel. Associated Press writer Julia Frankel in Jerusalem contributed to this report.
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