Israel army claims over 250,000 residents have left Gaza city to escape its bombings

THE ISRAELI MILITARY has claimed that more than 250,000 people have left Gaza city for other parts of the territory over the past few weeks, since it intensified its assault on Gaza’s largest urban centre.

A barrage of air strikes has killed at least 32 people across Gaza city as Israel ramps up its offensive there and urges Palestinians to evacuate, medical staff reported.

The dead included 12 children, according to the morgue in Shifa Hospital, where the bodies were taken.

Israel has intensified strikes across Gaza City, destroying high-rise buildings and accusing Hamas of putting surveillance equipment in them.

The death toll in Gaza has now topped 64,400 as the Israeli Defence Forces are in the midst of a large-scale offensive in Gaza City despite international condemnation and calls for a ceasefire.

The army’s Arabic-language spokesman Colonel Avichay Adraee said today that “more than a quarter of a million residents of Gaza City have moved out of the city for their own safety”

The United Nations estimates that about one million Palestinians live in and around Gaza City.

Media restrictions in Gaza and difficulties in accessing many areas mean AFP is unable to independently verify details provided by the military or tolls reported by the Palestinian territory’s civil defence agency.

Leaflet drop

Today, the Israeli military dropped leaflets telling residents in western districts to evacuate, as Gaza’s civil defence agency reported continuous air strikes.

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“The Israeli army is operating with very intense force in your area and is determined to dismantle and defeat Hamas,” the leaflet read.

“For your safety, evacuate immediately via Al-Rashid Street to the south of Wadi Gaza. You have been warned.”

Israel has come under mounting international pressure to halt its offensive, but says it is determined to dismantle Hamas in what it describes as one of the group’s last strongholds.

In recent weeks the military has primarly targeted high-rise buildings, saying they were being used by Hamas militants.

The United Nations and members of the international community have warned against the military’s assault for fear it will worsen the already dire humanitarian situation in Gaza City, where the UN has declared a famine.

According to the civil defence agency, Israeli strikes killed five people since dawn today.

Yesterday, at least 50 people were killed across the territory, the civil defence agency said.

“Every night we go to sleep not knowing if we will wake up alive,” Gaza City resident Umm Anas al-Ashqar told AFP.

“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.”

– © AFP2025

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