(Fox News) Palestinians are fleeing south after the Israeli government ordered the evacuation of northern Gaza amid beginning raids on the region.
Israeli military operations have begun in northern Gaza ahead of an expected land offensive approximately a week after Hamas launched its initial attacks.
Hamas is urging residents to ignore Israeli calls for evacuation.
Israeli tanks and soldiers are seen at a gathering point as fighting between Israeli troops and the militants of the Palestinian group Hamas continues. (Ilia Yefimovich/picture alliance via Getty Images)
Israel Defense Forces spokesman Jonathan Conricus shared the message he said was sent to citizens in Gaza on X, formerly Twitter, Friday morning.
“The IDF calls for the evacuation of all civilians from Gaza City from their homes southwards for their own safety and protection and to move to the area south of the Wadi Gaza, the river Gaza, as shown on the map,” Conricus said.
Israeli Defense Forces say that Hamas terrorists are hiding in “terror tunnels” beneath houses and civilian buildings and has called on civilians to leave the area before soldiers move in to destroy Hamas.
The Israeli Air Force says it killed a senior commander in Hamas’ commando forces, one who planned the terror attacks that massacred 1,300 Israelis on Oct. 7.
The IAF said a drone strike killed Ali Qadhi, a company commander in the Najaba force of Hamas, after obtaining intelligence from the Shin Bet security agency.
Smoke rises following an Israeli airstrike in Gaza City. The militant Hamas rulers of the Gaza Strip carried out an unprecedented, multi-front attack on Israel at daybreak last week, firing thousands of rockets as dozens of Hamas fighters infiltrated the heavily fortified border in several locations, killing hundreds and taking captives. Palestinian health officials reported hundreds of deaths from Israeli airstrikes in Gaza. (AP Photo/Fatima Shbair)
According to the Israeli military, Qadhi was arrested by Israel in 2005 for the kidnapping and murder of Israeli citizens and had been released to the Gaza Strip as part of a prisoner swap in 2011.
“Ali Qadi led the inhumane, barbaric October 7 massacre of civilians in Israel,” Israel Defense Forces said. “We just eliminated him. All Hamas terrorists will meet the same fate.”
The military also said it killed Abu Merad, who was the head of Hamas’ air forces.
The United Nations and other international bodies have complained that the scale and timeframe on Israel’s evacuation orders for Gaza are an unreasonable burden.
United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) Commissioner-General Philippe Lazzarini called the evacuation order “horrendous” in a statement predicting the escalating Israeli response to Hamas terror attackswill “lead to unprecedented levels of misery and push people in Gaza into the abyss.”
Israeli forces established heavily armed control points along the border as Israel tightens measures by the army, police and other security forces after Hamas launched Operation Al-Aqsa Flood in Sderot, Israel over the weekend. (Mostafa Alkharouf/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)
