September 10, 2025, Gaza City, Gaza
The Israeli military has issued a full evacuation order for Gaza City, instructing all residents to move south ahead of a planned expanded military operation. This marks the first time since the current conflict began that a comprehensive evacuation has been ordered for the entire city, which is home to hundreds of thousands of people already grappling with severe conditions of famine.
Leaflets dropped by Israeli forces over the city warned residents that a large-scale offensive to “obliterate” Hamas was imminent and that remaining in the area was “extremely dangerous.” The order has been met with panic and confusion, as many residents have nowhere safe to go. Aid groups, including Oxfam and the Danish Refugee Council, have condemned the order, labeling it both “impossible and illegal.” They argue that the designated “humanitarian zone” of Al-Mawasi in the south is already overwhelmed, lacking the infrastructure to support a renewed influx of displaced civilians, and has itself been subject to bombardment.
Despite the warnings and intensifying strikes, which have flattened residential high-rises and killed dozens in the past 24 hours, many Palestinians are choosing to stay. Some cite exhaustion from multiple displacements, while others point to the perils of travel and the lack of resources in the south. The UN has warned that the offensive could lead to an even deeper humanitarian catastrophe, as the ability of aid agencies to deliver essential supplies is already severely hindered. The Israeli military, however, insists the operation is necessary to dismantle what it describes as Hamas’s last remaining stronghold in the city.
