Netanyahu tells Gaza City residents to "leave now" ahead of Israeli ground offensive
Benjamin Netanyahu has urged Gaza City’s residents to evacuate, warning of an imminent Israeli ground manoeuvre, as airstrikes intensify and fears mount over the humanitarian situation in the overcrowded enclave.
- Netanyahu urged Gaza City residents to evacuate, warning of an imminent Israeli ground manoeuvre.
- Gaza’s health ministry reported 65 deaths and 320 injuries in the past 24 hours from Israeli strikes.
- UN officials warn evacuation zones in southern Gaza are overcrowded, unsafe, and under-resourced.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has warned residents of Gaza City to “leave now,” saying the Israeli military is preparing a ground “manoeuvre” into the enclave’s largest urban centre.
The warning came on 8 September 2025, hours after Israel announced plans to escalate its airstrikes. “I say to the residents of Gaza, I take this opportunity and listen to me carefully: you have been warned — leave now,” Netanyahu said.
Israel's military confirmed that evacuation orders had been issued for Gaza City's roughly one million residents, ahead of what it described as an expanded offensive. Officials say the operation is intended to demilitarize Gaza and place the strip under Israeli security control.
Gaza's health ministry reported that hospitals had received 65 bodies in the past 24 hours following Israeli fire, alongside 320 injured. The deaths add to a mounting toll, with heavy bombardments leveling entire neighborhoods in Gaza City.
Witnesses reported that Israeli airstrikes have destroyed multiple high-rise residential areas in recent days, displacing thousands of families. Military officials have warned that the bombardment will continue as preparations for a ground advance move forward.
Avichay Adraee, spokesperson for the Israeli Defense Forces’ Arabic media unit, released a video on September 9 via X, warning residents to evacuate immediately. He urged people from the Old City, Al-Tuffah, and coastal areas to move south via Al-Rashid Street to Al-Mawasi, which was designated as a “safe zone.”
He cautioned that staying in Gaza City was “extremely dangerous,” emphasizing that the army would act with “great force” in the area.
The United Nations has warned that Al-Mawasi and other southern areas are already overcrowded and unsafe, with many under regular bombardment. Tent camps between Khan Younis and the coastline host thousands of displaced families with limited shelter and aid supplies, according to The Guardian.
Hospitals in southern Gaza remain overstretched and undersupplied, with medical workers struggling to cope with surging casualties amid shortages of medicine, equipment, and fuel. Aid agencies have cautioned that relocating civilians under such conditions risks worsening the humanitarian crisis.
Israel's plan to take control of Gaza City has stirred global alarm, with critics saying it could deepen the light of the strip's 2.2 million residents, who are already enduring family conditions. Diplomatic efforts to secure a ceasefire have faltered as Israel insists on its objective of demilitarizing the enclave.
International observers have warned that a full-scale ground assault on Gaza's most populated city risks triggering a broader escalation across the region.
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