Hamas preventing mass evacuation of Gaza City for propaganda reasons

[Twiglets1]

Times of Israel reporting today that as the IDF prepares to expand its ground operations into Gaza City, Hamas is preventing civilians from evacuating south.

Defense officials estimate that 70,000 to 80,000 residents have fled Gaza City, most of them in the past 72 hours, even before an official evacuation order. Over the weekend, the number stood at about 10,000 out of the city’s estimated one million residents. Officials expect departures to continue as the IDF presses its campaign.

“The Hamas terror organization is doing everything it can to block the population’s movement southward in order to use civilians as human shields and for propaganda purposes,” one security official says. “In practice, the public’s barrier of fear has been broken, and tens of thousands of residents have managed to bypass Hamas checkpoints and evacuate the city.”

Meanwhile, the IDF releases a recording said to depict a Gaza City resident telling a Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT) officer that Hamas is preventing civilians from moving south.

“We want to go south but Hamas is blocking the way,” the resident is heard saying. “They tell people: go back home, there is no evacuation, go back, go back — and people scatter.”

He adds that many residents are fearful, with some attempting to take side streets and alternative routes. According to his testimony, Hamas operatives are stationed along the seashore near al-Nabulsi junction in western Gaza City and other areas, blocking main roads.

The IDF says the testimony highlights Hamas’s use of civilians as human shields to deter military operations.

https://www.timesofisrael.com/liveblog_entry/israeli-officials-hamas-preventing-mass-evacuation-of-gaza-city-for-propaganda-reasons-but-tens-of-thousands-have-left/

Hopefully knowing that will prevent them from completely obliterating the city as there will be so many people left.

Human shields for Hamas.

Absolutely they are. Evil men.

Now the IDF knows about it I presume they are not going to bomb the area because that would be targeting civilians.

Trump has posted on his Truth Social network, “Tell Hamas to IMMEDIATELY give back all 20 hostages (not 2 or 5 or 7!) and things will change rapidly. IT WILL END.

Hamas are bastards. Of course they would do this and will the western media make this clear....nope. One of the from things about this is that senior Hamas leaders are sitting in luxurious apartments in Turkey and Qatar flicking through news channels on their huge TV's quietly laughing at how their death cult tactics are working and the media are lapping it up.

If the Hamas leaders are not in Gaza city then surely there is no reason to obliterate the city?

Not saying it’s right to destroy the city but they are doing it to kill militants as Gaza city is a Hamas stronghold.

This was belief all along. Give up the hostages and it will end. Hamas want more deaths, won't let people leave, cynically use children for their cause. Vile

Though Netanyahu is also saying that Hamas have to disarm and leave Gaza which seems fair enough.

Where are Hamas going to go though? Who’s going to take them?

To another country to plan and execute further terrorist attacks either at Israel, allies of Israel or Jewish communities in other countries?

I can’t see how they can be allowed to leave tbh.

I never understood why Hamas leaders are being protected in other countries. Why is there not pressure from other governments to bring them to justice?

Are they considered as separate to the military arm of Hamas? How does that make sense?

Why haven’t the ICC issued arrest warrants against them?

They have made public statements that they want their civilians to die and they will carry out attacks on Israel again and again?

Maybe Iran?

Where indeed?

www.hackneygazette.co.uk/news/23873906.hamas-chief-muhammad-sawalha-lives-colindale-house/

Unbelievable!

Will Israel be the better party and stop or are they going to carry on regardless? And putting themselves on the same level as Hamas?

Agree.
If they know that innocent civilians have been prevented from leaving by Hamas and they bomb them anyway they are all as bad as each other.

This “reporting” raises more questions than it answers. A few points to consider:

1. Source bias: The piece quotes Israeli defense officials and a recording released by the IDF/COGAT. These are parties actively engaged in the conflict—they are not independent observers. Framing Hamas as blocking civilians is coming directly from the side conducting the bombardment. There is no corroboration from neutral humanitarian agencies like the UN or Red Cross.
2. Numbers: The claim that 70–80,000 have “fled” out of 1 million residents is presented without independent verification. In a city under bombardment and siege, movement is chaotic, and figures provided by the military often serve strategic messaging.
3. Human shields claim: This is a standard line used to justify civilian deaths in conflict. Even if Hamas forces were in populated areas, international law still obliges the IDF to distinguish civilians from combatants and avoid collective punishment. Civilians killed or trapped in the bombing can’t automatically be blamed on Hamas.
4. Evacuation portrayal: The recording is taken at face value, but there’s no context—who recorded it, under what circumstances, and is it representative of the wider population’s experience? It’s one person’s testimony released by a party with a vested interest in the narrative.
5. Overall framing: The article implicitly justifies the scale of destruction in Gaza, implying it’s necessary because civilians “could have” left but Hamas allegedly stopped them. This completely ignores the siege, the lack of safe passage, the destruction of roads and infrastructure, and the fact that starving, bombed civilians often cannot evacuate safely even if they want to.

Bottom line: using one-sided military sources to frame Gaza’s civilians as complicit is deeply misleading. Reports from independent agencies consistently show civilians are suffering massively regardless of Hamas’s actions.

It’s actually pathetic the lengths some are going to to justify this genocide now. Actually disgusting. What is happening is very visibly indefensible.

Is it only documented on 'times of Israel'? Is it anywhere else?
I don't think anyone Israel wants to convince is going to trust an Israeli source of info, without it being backed up by mainstream media

Neutral agencies like the UN and the Red Cross.

🤔🤔🤔🤔🤔🤔🤔🤔🤔🤔🤔🤔🤔🤔🤔🤔

Sorry, should have said just ANY other sources that aren’t the literal party actively engaged in the conflict. But apparently that’s the only source some of you will take as gospel.

FREE tents brought into Gaza to provide shelter for the evacuation being sold in Gaza’s markets for $1200 CASH.

Cue the accusations of Israel is not letting in tents for vital shelter in the evacuation.

https://x.com/imshin/status/1963136899788292115

https://x.com/cogatonline/status/1963668403371298856

That blasted X again.

No one is justifying genocide.

@ElaineParrish Times of Israel is a mainstream source. Its scores according to the mediabiascheck website:

Bias Rating: LEFT-CENTER (-2.5)
Factual Reporting: HIGH (1.8)
Country: Israel
MBFC’s Country Freedom Rank: MODERATE FREEDOM
Media Type: Website
Traffic/Popularity: High Traffic
MBFC Credibility Rating: HIGH CREDIBILITY

Failed Fact Checks

• None in the Last 5 years

Maybe you mean it's not a UK source?

https://mediabiasfactcheck.com/times-of-israel/

Why is it only the Israeli media that give updates on Israeli soldiers killed in action? If we have a balanced press in the country surely that information would be channelled through the BBC.? Do Israeli troop deaths reveal the shocking truth this is a war and upset the pro Palestine looks that won't give up their genocide change despite it not being legally proved (or actually happening)?

why is the UN not as critical of Russia in its invasion of Ukraine as the justified self defence of a nation state?

people are able to see biased in the media and institutions and indeed critical thinking is a useful skill in life. There does seem to be an unthinking non mentality about the pro Palestine position that is scary and certainly results in increased anti semitism; which was maybe the end goal after all.

It’s a genocide-
and there’s plenty of people on this board trying to explain why the actions of Israel and the IDF are ‘justified’.

So we’re meant to applaud Israel for levelling nearly 2 million people’s homes- even children in displacement camps- and then tossing a few tents at them?

• The UN confirms over 1.3 million Gazans still lack proper shelter due to blocked deliveries of tents and other key supplies .
• Even where tents did arrive, around 74% are now unusable, destroyed by prolonged exposure to harsh conditions.
• After winter storms, 110,000 out of 135,000 tents were rendered unfit for habitation- telling evidence of the failed ‘help’ provided.
• Israel claimed it would allow shelter deliveries but aid groups- including the UN, CARE, ShelterBox, and the Norwegian Refugee Council- report continued obstruction and red tape.

In short: dropping “some tents” doesn’t offset the destruction and neglect of an entire people made homeless.