Israel ordered Gaza City’s full evacuation as Defence Minister Katz vowed to crush Hamas. PC: AP
Israel's Defense Minister, Israel Katz, announced on Tuesday that 'Gaza is burning', vowing the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) would retaliate 'with an iron fist' until Hamas is defeated and the remaining hostages freed. "We won't stop and we won't retreat, until the mission is done," Katz wrote on X, as the military gave its first-ever directive for all residents of Gaza City to leave.
The historic order comes as Israel readies a massive offensive to take what it describes as Hamas' final stronghold. Hundreds of thousands are still in Gaza City, many already in poor shape from multiple displacements and near-starvation conditions. Associated Press journalists saw families piling onto cars, trucks, and donkey carts, luggage stacked high.
Aid groups warn that most civilians cannot afford the escape, with the UN estimating it costs over $1,000 for a family to move south. Shelters there are already overcrowded and running out of food and medicine.
ALSO READ: WORLD NEWS: Israel Claims ‘Full Responsibility’ for Qatar Drone Attack, Says Netanyahu
Israel reported that its troops destroyed 50 high-rise buildings in the last two days, claiming Hamas had been using them for combat. The demolitions were described as 'only the beginning' of a wider ground campaign by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Gaza civil defense units reported pulling survivors and bodies from the debris, warning that scores more could remain trapped.
Resident doctors and medical personnel in Gaza promised to disobey evacuation directives, assuring hospitals would not be shut down. "We will never abandon our land...health care providers will not leave, and we are calling for protection," responded Dr. Muneer al-Boursh of the Health Ministry in Gaza.
ALSO READ: Why Israel Is Targeting Iranian Operatives: Recent Arrests and Airstrikes Explained
In Jerusalem, the families of the hostages called on lawmakers to reverse course and refrain from military action. "If I were released in an exchange, then evidently that's the proper method to free the remaining ones," said Iair Horn, a former hostage whose brother is still being held in Gaza.
The conflict, ignited by Hamas' October 7, 2023, attack that killed 1,200 in Israel and resulted in the taking of 251 hostages, has reduced Gaza to ruins. Gaza's Health Ministry lists over 64,000 Palestinians dead and 90 percent of the population forced from their homes. Violence has also erupted in the West Bank, where two Palestinian teenagers, aged 14, were shot to death in Jenin.
In Jerusalem, six were murdered when two shooters attacked passengers at a bus stop, leading Israel to cancel hundreds of work permits and impose penalties against the families of the shooters.
