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/