By Said Amori and Rania Abu Shamala
JERUSALEM/ISTANBUL (AA)— The Israeli army issued evacuation warnings late Thursday to Palestinians in several Gaza City neighborhoods, directing them to leave immediately and move to the southern part of the Gaza Strip.
Military spokesman Avichay Adraee stated on X that residents of the Old City of Gaza and the neighborhoods of Al-Sabra, Tel al-Hawa, and Western Zeitoun in Gaza City “must evacuate immediately and move to southern Gaza.”
According to the statement, the army issued a "prior and final warning before the attack," urging Palestinians to immediately relocate to shelter centers in the Al-Mawasi area.
Earlier, Adraee said on his X account that the targeted areas include the neighborhoods of Shejaiya, Zeitoun, and Turukman, calling on Palestinians to immediately leave and head to what he called known shelters west of Gaza City.
The Israeli army has repeatedly issued evacuation orders for Palestinians across Gaza as it escalated its ongoing military assaults on the enclave since October 2023.
On Sunday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed to escalate attacks on Gaza amid efforts to implement US President Donald Trump's plan to displace Palestinians from the enclave.
Israel began a surprise aerial campaign on Gaza on March 18 and has since killed more than 1,000 people and injured over 2,500, shattering a January ceasefire and prisoner exchange agreement between Israel and the Palestinian resistance group Hamas.
More than 50,500 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza in Israel's military onslaught since October 2023, most of them women and children.
The International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants last November for Netanyahu and his former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, for war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza.
Israel also faces a genocide case at the International Court of Justice for its war on the enclave.