Israel army urges ‘everyone in Gaza City’ to leave amid new offensive on eve of truce talks

In the leaflet drop, the army said residents would be able to take two safe roads “quickly and without inspection from Gaza City to shelters in Deir Al-Balah and Al-Zawiya”.

The warning comes as Israeli officials start talks in Qatar on Wednesday on reaching a truce in the war raging since the October 7 Hamas attacks.

CIA director William Burns and Israel’s Mossad chief David Barnea are due to travel to Qatar on Wednesday, after Burns held talks with Egypt’s President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi in Cairo.

Following the Hamas attacks, Israel said in January that it had “dismantled” the militant group’s “military structure” in the northern city.

Tens of thousands more residents have already fled Gaza City since troops launched the latest offensive in the city’s eastern Shujaiya district, and ground battles have since raged.

The two latest orders covered central and western districts, where tanks and troops have move in this week.

The army also said its forces had attacked militants inside Gaza City’s vacated headquarters of the UN agency for Palestinians, UNRWA.

Strikes have also hit Deir Al-Balah, an area where Palestinians have been urged to move to for safety.

The United Nations on Tuesday expressed alarm at Israel’s evacuation orders, saying they tell Palestinians to go to zones where there is fighting.

The October 7 Hamas attack on southern Israel resulted in the deaths of 1,195 people, mostly civilians, according to Israeli figures.

The militants also seized 251 hostages, 116 of whom remain in Gaza, including 42 the military says are dead.

Israel’s military offensive has killed more than 38,000 people in Gaza, also mostly civilians, according to figures released by the Hamas-run territory’s health ministry.