October 1, 2026
DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip (AP) — The Israeli military urged a full evacuation of Gaza City on Tuesday morning ahead of its planned expanded offensive in the northern city.
The announcement was the first warning for a full evacuation of the city in the current round of fighting. Previously, the military has warned specific sections of Gaza City to evacuate ahead of concentrated operations or strikes.
Israel said it has demolished 50 high-rise buildings in Gaza in the past two days, which it accused Hamas terrorists of using for military infrastructure. On Monday, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called the demolition of the high-rises “only the introduction, only the beginning of the main intensive operation — the ground incursion of our forces.”
The demolitions are part of Israel's ramping up its offensive to take control of what it says is Hamas’ last remaining stronghold, urging Palestinians to flee parts of Gaza City for a designated humanitarian zone in the territory’s south. Tuesday's warnings were the most widespread evacuation warnings in the current round of fighting.
There are an estimated 1 million Palestinians in the area of north Gaza around Gaza City, according to both the Israeli military and the United Nations, around half of Gaza's population of 2.1 million.
Military spokesperson Col. Avichay Adraee warned last week that the full evacuation of Gaza City was "inevitable,” saying families who move south would receive humanitarian assistance.
Dr. Rami Mhanna, managing director of Shifa Hospital, said that although the situation in Gaza City was tense, the facility still operates and receives patients.
“So far, things are as usual,” he told The Associated Press after the evacuation warning. “But the atmosphere is tense and there is great psychological pressure on the staff and patients.”
He said he didn’t notice displacement in and around the hospital.
COGAT, the Israeli defense body overseeing humanitarian aid to Gaza, said 1,500 humanitarian aid trucks primarily containing food entered Gaza last week, and there are plans to bring in 100,000 tents in the coming weeks, many of which are currently waiting in Jordan. The tents needed to be adapted to swap metal poles, which COGAT said were repurposed into rockets used by militants, with plastic poles.
The war in Gaza began when Hamas-led terrorists abducted 251 people on Oct. 7, 2023, and killed some 1,200 people, mostly Israeli civilians. Forty-eight hostages are still inside Gaza, around 20 of them believed to be alive.
Israel’s offensive has killed at least 64,522 Palestinians, according to claims by the Hamas-controlled Gaza Health Ministry, which does not say how many were civilians or combatants.
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