IDF advises evacuation of population to southern Gaza

Israeli authorities warned medical facilities and international organizations in the northern Gaza Strip to gear up for mass evacuations of civilians as it drove ahead toward a planned military offensive aimed at conquering Gaza City.

The announcement by the Israel Defense Forces came as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was set to huddle with top military officials and a handful of high-ranking ministers to reportedly approve war plans, even as mediators and families of hostages pressed Jerusalem to re-engage with efforts to broker a ceasefire.

To prepare for the mass displacement, the IDF said Thursday it had begun to give “initial warnings,” with officers from COGAT, the Defense Ministry unit that coordinates with Gazan civilians, telling medical officials and aid groups in the northern part of the enclave “to prepare for the population’s movement to the southern Gaza Strip.”

The IDF said the officers emphasized to Gazan medical officials that “the hospital infrastructures in the southern Gaza Strip are being adapted for the absorption of the sick and wounded, alongside an increased entry of necessary medical equipment in accordance with the requests of the international aid organizations.”