IDF Escalates Gaza City Offensive, Warns of ‘Unprecedented Force’ Amid Mass Evacuations
IDF Escalates Gaza City Offensive, Warns of ‘Unprecedented Force’ Amid Mass Evacuations
The Israeli military has issued a stark warning, stating it will deploy ‘unprecedented force’ in Gaza City. This declaration comes as the IDF intensifies its ground offensive within the territory’s largest urban center, urging residents to continue evacuating southwards.
IDF forces have significantly expanded their operations across Gaza City, reporting the neutralization of over ten operatives and numerous strikes against terror infrastructure in the last 24 hours. Concurrently, operations in the southern Gaza Strip, specifically in Khan Younis and Rafah, saw troops eliminate several terror operatives and dismantle dozens of Hamas sites.
Hamas-run health authorities in Gaza claim at least 22 fatalities from recent Israeli strikes across the Strip. These figures remain unverified and do not distinguish between combatants and civilians.
Amid the escalating ground offensive in Gaza City, the IDF has announced the planned closure of Salah al-Din Road, effectively funneling all remaining evacuations from Gaza City to the southern Strip exclusively via the Rashid coastal road. An IDF Arabic-language spokesman reiterated the military’s resolve, stating, ‘The IDF will continue to act with great and unprecedented force against Hamas and the other terror organizations. For your safety, take the opportunity and join the hundreds of thousands of [Gaza] City residents who have moved south to the humanitarian area, and do not allow Hamas to exploit you as human shields.’
Military estimates indicate that approximately 480,000 Gaza City residents have already fled the area since late August, anticipating the intensified operations. Prior to the current major offensive against Hamas, Gaza City was home to an estimated one million Palestinians. The IDF had previously issued orders for all Gaza City residents to evacuate immediately to designated humanitarian zones in the southern Strip.
Reports from western Gaza City describe ‘relentless and intense shelling,’ with residents like 35-year-old Sami Baroud expressing profound distress: ‘Our life has become nothing but explosions and danger… How can I evacuate when I can’t even afford transportation?’ Nivin Ahmed, 50, recounted her arduous journey, having walked over 15 kilometers with seven family members from Gaza City to Deir el-Balah, stating, ‘We were crawling from exhaustion… My youngest son cried from fatigue.’ Similarly, Mona Abdel Karim, 36, unable to secure transport, has spent two nights sleeping on Al-Rashid Street with her elderly in-laws and young children, expressing her desperation: ‘I feel like I’m about to explode. We can’t walk on foot…’
Adding to the severe humanitarian crisis, Israel’s Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT) reported that Hamas gunmen brazenly stole four UNICEF aid trucks laden with baby formula in Gaza City yesterday. COGAT condemned the incident as a ‘direct assault on humanitarian work,’ occurring just outside the UNICEF compound. UNICEF corroborated the account, stating ‘armed individuals’ commandeered the trucks at gunpoint, diverting their contents before releasing drivers and vehicles. UNICEF emphasized the dire consequences, noting the theft deprives at least 2,700 severely malnourished children of life-saving Ready-to-Use Therapeutic Food, particularly critical as famine conditions are declared in northern Gaza and military operations exacerbate displacement. COGAT accused Hamas of stealing aid intended for free distribution, asserting that ‘while Israel allows the entry of vital baby food into Gaza, Hamas steals it to profit from the public… Hamas proves that it has no interest in the well-being of the people, only in its own terror motives.’
Separately, the IDF confirmed the death of Mahmoud Abu al-Khir, deputy intelligence chief in Hamas’s Bureij Battalion, in a recent airstrike in northern Gaza. Abu al-Khir was reportedly involved in coordinating attacks against Israel and IDF troops, targeted by an Israeli Air Force drone strike with measures taken to mitigate civilian harm.
The Hamas-run Gaza health ministry reports over 65,000 casualties or presumed deaths in the conflict to date, though these figures remain unverified and do not differentiate between combatants and civilians. The ongoing conflict originated from the October 7, 2023, Hamas-led massacre in southern Israel. Currently, 48 hostages remain held by terror groups in Gaza, including 47 abducted on that day. This number includes the bodies of at least 26 individuals confirmed dead by the IDF, with concerns for the well-being of others believed to be alive.
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