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Israeli forces said Wednesday that evacuations in Gaza city were “inevitable” ahead of planned military attacks, as aid groups will issue more warnings than expanded strip operations.
“Evacuation in Gaza City is inevitable,” wrote Avichey Adrie, an IDF Arabic spokesman, in X. He advised city residents to prepare to leave.
He said Israeli forces will investigate vast empty areas south of the city and “help to evacuate residents as much as possible.”
Adraee said displaced people will receive space for the tents and the infrastructure will be set up to distribute aid and water. “Every family moving south will receive the most generous humanitarian assistance they are currently working on,” he explained about X.
However, aid groups warned that widening Israeli military attacks could exacerbate the humanitarian crisis on the territory.
More than 80% of Gaza are designated as Israel’s military zones or are subject to evacuation orders, the UN Humanitarian Agency said in June.
Israel is moving forward with plans to mobilize tens of thousands of reserves, with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu saying the troops will launch the attacks while pursuing a ceasefire at the same time.
Hamas said last week it had accepted a ceasefire proposal proposed by Egyptian-Qatar mediators.
Qatar said on Tuesday that Israel has not yet officially responded and “doesn’t want to reach an agreement.”
Last week, Doha officials said the proposal under discussion was “almost identical” to the previous draft presented by US envoy Steve Witkov and accepted by Israel.
The deals that are said to be debated include a 60-day truce and several releases of Hamas’ remaining 50 hostages.
Many of the Netanyahu coalitions are opposed to such a gradual transaction.
But the protests in Israel are escalating as hostage families and their supporters encourage a ceasefire.
The government argues that widening attacks is the best way to undermine Hamas’ ability to bring them home and launch future attacks.
The story of post-war Gaza
Meanwhile, in Washington, Secretary of State Marco Rubio will meet with Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar on Wednesday to discuss post-war Gaza.
Witkoff told Fox News Tuesday that US President Donald Trump will chair another meeting.
He didn’t provide details about the meeting, but it didn’t appear in Trump’s public schedule on Wednesday.
Witkov also said the official US position is that hostages – Hamas’ main leverage source – are no longer part of the negotiations.
He told Fox News that instead focuses on issues that include the future of Gaza and how to define Hamas in that context.
Additional sources •AP
