Tens of thousands of Palestinians are estimated to have left their homes in southern Gaza to move north, following the order given by the Israeli army yesterday.

According to the UN humanitarian office, before yesterday’s evacuation order was issued, more than 400,000 Palestinians had been internally displaced in Gaza.

In the latest update from the IDF, spokesman Jonathan Conricus said there is a “significant movement of civilians” from the south to the north of Gaza. “They are doing the right thing for their family and their safety,” he commented.

Mr Conricus said Israeli reservists were “preparing for the next stage of operations” across the Gaza Strip and added that the final stage of this war is the “dissolution of Hamas and its military capabilities”.

“We are a week after the atrocity,” he said.

“Remember how it started. We will likely proceed with additional major military operations. When we do this, remember how this started. Not by us, not by our choice and certainly not by the goals we chose to set. All this is manufactured by Hamas,” he noted.

He also said it is “extremely sad and disturbing” to see Hamas actively undermining and trying to prevent Palestinian civilians from evacuating this area.

The Israeli army had given a 24-hour ultimatum to evacuate southern Gaza, calling on Palestinians to move north.

During yesterday’s day, the army dropped thousands of leaflets over Gaza by drone, calling on the residents to leave.

Hamas, on the other hand, called on the residents “not to move” and not to succumb to Israel’s false propaganda.

The UN called it “impossible” to be able to move 1.1 million Palestinians from their homes, angering Israelis who called the UN’s stance “shameful”.

International news agencies yesterday broadcast images of Palestinians fleeing their homes with their belongings in their hands trying to escape from the coming disaster.

The Palestinians were leaving the city by whatever means they had. Hundreds of cars, motorcycles and trucks, heavily laden with belongings, headed to the southern Gaza Strip. People even traveled with cows, camels, sheep and donkeys.

Many families took the escape route on foot, walking several kilometers until they reached a safe place.

Leaflets littering the streets of Gaza read in Arabic: “Evacuate your homes immediately and go south of the Gaza Strip.” A map included in the leaflets also featured an arrow pointing south, below a line drawn through the center of the Gaza Strip.

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