The army said roughly 300,000 residents have already left Gaza City, though Hamas has attempted to prevent civilians from evacuating.
Israel’s Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT) said Sunday that Hamas officials are trying to flee Gaza with their families while ordering residents to remain in Gaza City as human shields.
“While Hamas calls the residents of Gaza City not to move south, its operatives fear for their own lives and are seeking to leave the Gaza Strip,” COGAT wrote on X. “They are using residents of northern Gaza as human shields while looking out for their own interests.”
COGAT chief Maj. Gen. Ghassan Alian said requests have been submitted by senior Hamas figures for family members to leave the Strip, with some officials asking to depart themselves. He said Israel denied the requests. Among those named were Muhammad Madhoun, a minister in the Hamas government; relatives of Isma’il al-Ashqar, head of Hamas’s Foreign Affairs and Security Committee; and the family of Alaa a-Din Bata, head of a Hamas committee.