Israel’s foreign minister, Katz, said on Wednesday residents of Gaza City had a “last chance to leave” after Israeli forces took the last section of the Netzarim corridor, Reuters reported.
Katz said the strip divides Gaza into northern and southern areas and that the capture left Gaza City completely encircled.
He said residents of the city could move south and would then have to pass Israeli army checkpoints. “Those who do not leave now will not be spared during the Israeli forces’ operations in Gaza City,” the foreign minister warned, saying they would be considered Hamas members or accomplices, Reuters reported.
Hamas condemned Katz’s call, saying the minister was thereby “paving the way for the escalation of war crimes” by the Israeli military, Reuters reported.
Israel has been besieging Gaza City’s largest city for weeks and has already conducted ground operations in some suburbs.
On the night from Tuesday to Wednesday, Israeli warplanes bombed residential neighborhoods in Gaza City, Reuters news agency reported.
Local health officials reported at least 35 people were killed in Gaza on Wednesday, with by far most of the deaths occurring in Gaza City, Reuters said. Aid workers told the news agency that attacks on the old city and a school where people were sheltering took a combined 13 lives.
