Israel orders Gaza City residents to leave for 'humanitarian zone' ahead of assault

Israel has ordered Gaza City residents to leave their homes for a "humanitarian zone" ahead of a planned full-scale assault on Gaza's last urban centre.

Israeli military spokesperson Avichay Adraee said on social media that residents should move to al-Mawasi to escape the ground offensive, though no date has yet been announced.

The UN estimates that nearly one million people remain in and around Gaza City, which has been wracked with starvation due to Israel's blockade and was officially declared a famine zone last month.

According to the Palestinian health ministry in Gaza, at least 1,100 Palestinians have been killed and 6,000 wounded in Gaza City over the past three weeks since Israel intensified its bombing campaign.

Adraee said that those who arrived at al-Mawasi would be able to receive a range of humanitarian aid, including "field hospitals, water pipelines and desalination facilities".

However, despite declaring al-Mawasi as a "safe zone" early in the war, Israel has repeatedly bombed the camps of displaced people in the southern region, claiming they were harbouring Hamas fighters.

Hundreds of thousands of Palestinians have been forcibly displaced from their homes in Gaza since the war began in October 2023.

Over 64,300 Palestinians have been killed, most of them women and children. Some reports say the number is conservative, with The Lancet medical journal estimating the figure to be over 186,000.

Ahead of the Gaza City assault, Israel has been carrying out repeated air strikes on residential properties across the city.

On Friday, jets struck a 12-storey tower in the city, with the military announcing plans to destroy more high-rise buildings in densely populated residential areas.

The Israeli military said in a post on X that it destroyed Mushtaha Tower because it was used by Hamas, a claim denied by the Palestinian movement.

The management of Mushtaha Tower has dismissed what it called the "occupation's lies", confirming that the building contains no security equipment and is accessible only to displaced people.

Defence Minister Israel Katz threatened that military operations in the blockaded strip would only escalate unless Hamas agreed to Israel's ceasefire terms, which include the Palestinian movement's disarmament.

Hamas released a statement late on Wednesday reaffirming its acceptance of a ceasefire proposal presented on 18 August that was nearly identical to the terms previously demanded by Israel.

The group added that it has yet to receive a response from the Israeli side via mediators.

“The movement reaffirms its readiness to move forward with a comprehensive deal,” the statement said.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office responded swiftly, dismissing the announcement.

“Unfortunately, this is more spin by Hamas that contains nothing new,” the statement read.

Netanyahu reiterated his revised conditions for ending the war, which include the release of all hostages, Hamas’ disarmament, the demilitarisation of the Gaza Strip and continued Israeli security control over the territory.