Hamas has attempted to block Palestinians from evacuating the northern Gaza Strip, placing roadblocks on evacuation routes designated by the IDF, the IDF Spokesperson's Unit said Saturday.
בעקבות קריאתו של צה"ל לתושבי רצועת עזה להתפנות דרומה מבתיהם לשם הגנתם, החלו תושבי ברצועה בתנועה דרומה מנחל עזה.חמאס מערים קשיים על תושבי הרצועה לנוע בצירים מרכזיים ומונע מעבר כלי רכב בצירים אלו pic.twitter.com/U3FvQHXaPq
— צבא ההגנה לישראל (@idfonline) October 14, 2023
On Friday, the IDF published instructions to residents of northern Gaza, directing them to evacuate to southern Gaza due to planned military operations in Gaza City in northern Gaza. Leaflets were also dropped over the Gaza Strip with the instructions and a map was published showing which roads would be safe to use for evacuation.
"Hamas terrorists are hiding in Gaza City inside tunnels underneath houses and inside buildings populated with innocent Gazan civilians," read a statement published by the IDF on Friday.
"Civilians of Gaza City, evacuate south for your own safety and the safety of your families and distance yourself from Hamas terrorists who are using you as human shields. In the following days, the IDF will continue to operate significantly in Gaza City and make extensive efforts to avoid harming civilians."
IDF spokesperson Daniel Hagari warned on Saturday night that the IDF would conduct "very broad strikes" in Gaza City "in the near future."
Hamas urges Gazans to ignore IDF evacuation directive
After the IDF issued the directive on Friday, officials in the Hamas-run government in Gaza called the instructions "false propaganda and psychological warfare," saying "we urge our citizens to ignore it."
On Saturday, Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh said that Palestinians would remain in their homes "even if they are destroyed."
Despite Hamas's statements, footage from the Strip showed tens of thousands of people fleeing northern Gaza, with Israeli media reported that an estimated 400,000-600,000 people had evacuated northern Gaza by Saturday evening.
Video and photos shared by the IDF on Saturday showed large objects being placed on the roads designated by the IDF in an attempt to block them, with massive traffic jams seen from the air as tens of thousands of people attempted to evacuate.
Additionally on Saturday, Palestinian media shared a video claiming to show an Israeli airstrike hitting one of the evacuation routes, although a number of open-source intelligence accounts which analyzed the footage noted that the explosion appeared to originate from a van on the ground as there was no projectile visible at any point in the footage.
No Projectile in a 30fps scene? https://t.co/do6E2ijLjM pic.twitter.com/kXAxvUjWaq
— Aurora Intel (@AuroraIntel) October 14, 2023
It is as of yet unclear what the source or cause of the explosion was. No side has claimed responsibility for the incident.