Over 250,000 Flee Gaza City Amid Intensified Israeli Assault

TDT | Manama

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More than 250,000 residents have reportedly left Gaza City for other areas within the territory over the past few weeks, as Israel intensifies its military offensive on the densely populated urban center, the Israeli military said Saturday.

“According to IDF estimates, more than a quarter of a million residents of Gaza City have moved out of the city for their own safety,” said Colonel Avichay Adraee, the Israeli military’s Arabic-language spokesperson, on X.

The United Nations estimates that around one million Palestinians live in and around Gaza City. Media restrictions in the territory and limited access to many areas have made it difficult to independently verify figures provided by the Israeli military or casualty reports from Gaza’s civil defence agency.

On Saturday, the Israeli military distributed leaflets urging residents in western districts of Gaza City to evacuate. The city’s civil defence agency reported ongoing airstrikes throughout the day.

“The Israeli army is operating with very intense force in your area and is determined to dismantle and defeat Hamas,” one leaflet read. “For your safety, evacuate immediately via Al-Rashid Street to the south of Wadi Gaza. You have been warned.”

Israel has faced growing international pressure to halt its offensive but has maintained it is committed to dismantling Hamas in one of the group’s last remaining strongholds. In recent weeks, the Israeli military has primarily targeted high-rise buildings, claiming they were used by Hamas militants.

The United Nations and other international bodies have warned that the military campaign could worsen the already dire humanitarian situation in Gaza City, where the UN has declared a famine.

According to Gaza’s civil defence agency, Israeli strikes killed five people on Saturday morning alone. On Friday, at least 50 people were killed across the territory.

“Every night we go to sleep not knowing if we will wake up alive,” said Gaza City resident Umm Anas al-Ashqar. “The bombing around us never stops… We stayed in our house because we have nowhere else to go… This is not life. Death would be easier than this.”