'Evacuate your homes': Israel army drops flyers, telling Gazans to flee 'immediately'

The Israel Defence Forces (IDF) on Friday (Oct 13) dropped leaflets from planes into Gaza, calling on residents to urgently leave their homes and move south, images accessed by WION showed. Earlier, IDF issued an order to around 1.1 million Gazans to flee from the north of the Palestinian territory within 24 hours.

The flyer was in Arabic, loosely translated to English as: "The terrorist organisation waged a war against Israel. Gaza City has turned into a battlefield. You have to leave your homes immediately and head south of Wadi Gaza. For your safety: Don't return to your homes until further notice from the Israeli Defence Forces."

The image of the flyer was shared with WION byastudent from Gaza, who chose to stay anonymous.

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On Friday, the United Nations announced that its agency for Palestinian refugees is moving operations and foreign staff to southern Gaza, but they also added that such an operation is not easy, within the given time frame.

"The call from the Israeli Forces to move more than 1 million civilians living in northern Gaza within 24 hours is horrendous," Philippe Lazzarini, Commissioner General of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), said in a statement.

As of Friday evening, more than 1,530 Gazans have been killed in less than a week of Israeli strikes, which were retaliation for cross-border raids by Hamas militants which claimed more than 1,200 lives in Israel.

The flyer mentioned three points, for the "security" and "safety" of the those residing in Gaza Strip. It read: "You should not come back to your homes until another announcement from the IDF".

Image: Leaflets dropped from planes into Gaza. Credit: WION

It added, "You should leave the shelters like the UN schools and public places in Gaza City." It further said, "It is prohibited for you to move towards the Israel-Gaza border. Anyone who goes there is under risk."

"You have to evacuate your homes immediately and move to the south of Gaza," it said.

A senior US official said that Israel supports setting up "safe areas" for civilians in the Gaza Strip ahead of an expected major offensive.

A day after talks in Tel Aviv, the official said that the two sides discussed "the need to establish some safe areas where civilians could relocate, be safe from Israel's legitimate security operations".

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Israel tanks at Gaza border

Israel's military made the call as it amassed tanks for an expected ground invasion against Hamas, which poses a serious risk.

Hamas is threatening to kill its hostages and the possible Israeli invasion would also impact the people who are living in the narrow and densely populated Gaza Strip.

(With inputs from agencies)

Disclaimer: WION takes utmost care to accurately and responsibly report ongoing developments on the Israel-Palestine conflict after the Hamas attacks. However, we cannot independently verify the authenticity of all statements, photos and videos.

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