This came in a statement by Israeli military spokesman Avichay Adraee, as Tel Aviv began a systematic campaign of demolishing residential towers in the city on Friday, raising growing concerns about the repercussions for Palestinian civilians.
Adraee said: "To all residents of Gaza City and all its neighborhoods, from the Old City in the east to the sea in the west, the IDF is determined to defeat Hamas."
He added, "The army will operate in the Gaza City area with great force, just as it has operated throughout the Strip," vowing a broad escalation.
Adraee called on residents to evacuate immediately via the Rashid axis toward the humanitarian zone in Al-Mawasi, south of the Gaza Strip, warning that remaining in the city poses a grave risk.
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Despite Israeli claims of a "safe" zone in the southern Gaza Strip, Tel Aviv has repeatedly targeted this area, resulting in deaths and injuries among the displaced. Furthermore, the area lacks even the most basic services, most notably drinking water, and suffers from severe overcrowding due to the influx of hundreds of thousands of displaced persons.
For its part, the Palestinian Ministry of Health in Gaza issued an urgent appeal to the international community, the United Nations, and human rights and humanitarian organizations.
In its statement on Tuesday, the ministry called for immediate protection for hospitals and medical personnel, and the opening of safe routes for access to them within the Gaza Strip, warning of an imminent humanitarian disaster threatening the lives of thousands of patients and wounded.
For days, Israel has been continuing its gradual demolition campaign of high-rise residential buildings in Gaza City, leading to an increase in the number of displaced families and a worsening of the displacement crisis. Observers warn that the goal of these measures is to forcibly displace Palestinians southward, as part of a broader plan believed to have Israeli-American dimensions aimed at displacing them outside the Strip.
With American support, Israel has been committing genocide in Gaza since October 7, 2023, leaving 64,522 Palestinians dead, 163,096 wounded, most of them children and women, hundreds of thousands displaced, and a famine that has killed 393 Palestinians, including 140 children.
