Evacuations Surge and Palestinian Civilians Seek Escape as Israel Pushes Into Gaza City
Israel’s operation aims to topple Hamas, free hostages, and close a two-year war while aid groups warn the south and central Strip are buckling under new inflows
[Gaza City] Israel has moved ground forces into Gaza City, ordering evacuations and opening corridors as part of a drive to uproot Hamas from what officials call the group’s last major power base in the Strip. The stated goals are to remove Hamas from power, free the remaining hostages, and bring a two-year war to a close—objectives that demand hard urban fighting even as civilians try to reach safer areas.
United Nations and humanitarian tallies indicate nearly 400,000 people have fled their homes since August; roughly 190,000 have reached the south, while many others are marooned in central and western neighborhoods. Daily life has collapsed across much of the city, with bombardments, intermittent communications, and shortages of food, water, fuel, and shelter. Israeli authorities say evacuation routes are meant to move civilians out of combat zones as forces expand operations across several districts. This phase follows earlier raids and a take-and-hold approach intended to pressure Hamas while searching for hostages seized on October 7, 2023.
You can’t find anything anymore. It’s gone.
The Media Line’s new video report centers on the civilians navigating this pivot point—families evacuating Gaza City after already leaving homes in Jabalia Camp, Beit Hanoun, and Wadi Gaza. Aisha Al-Najjar, from Jabalia Camp, describes a grinding calculus of scarcity: “Water is a problem; it’s hard to access. … We’re stuck in this loop.” Gaza City itself—once a commercial and educational hub—is now a shell. Mahmoud Al-Sumairi, also displaced from Jabalia, puts it bluntly: “You can’t find anything anymore. It’s gone.”
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Is this a life?
Repeated displacement is wearing people down and draining their savings. Families speak of paying hundreds of shekels for fuel and steep fees for trucks, only to move again when fighting shifts. Mahmoud Al-Zaanin, from Beit Hanoun, says his family has already moved five times and asks, “Is this a life?” Others describe sleeping on bare concrete or rubble after rents spiked in the south and buildings proved unsafe.
Where is the international community? Don’t you even think of the kids? I’m begging everyone: Please stop this war.
Anger is spilling outward as the exodus continues. A father from Beit Hanoun, Amjad Hassan, pleads: “Where is the international community? Don’t you even think of the kids? I’m begging everyone: Please stop this war.” And Abdel Dayem, also from Beit Hanoun, narrates the weary ritual of departure: “We’re leaving Gaza City for the south. We don’t really have a place to go. … I hope God has mercy on us.”
Israeli officials say the Gaza City push is a necessary step to break Hamas’ command-and-control and create leverage for a hostage deal. Military briefings say forces are dismantling tunnel access points, striking command posts, and advancing by blocks to reduce risk to troops while directing civilians along pre-announced corridors. Humanitarian groups warn that each new evacuation order adds to the burden on a strained south and central Strip, where services and shelter are already scarce and disease risks rise when large numbers of people concentrate in makeshift camps.
The strategic stakes and human costs are intertwined. For Israel, commanders argue that Gaza City is the last terrain where Hamas retains the ability to coordinate, tax, and intimidate—and that taking it away is essential to any endgame. For civilians, the final miles south can mean days of waiting, mounting transport costs, and no guarantee of a roof at the journey’s end. Relief agencies report rising demand for potable water, fuel, medical supplies, and latrines, alongside sporadic communications blackouts that complicate aid delivery and family reunifications.
Many on both sides hope this will be the final stage of a devastating conflict. Yet the path to any finish—military or diplomatic—runs through crowded neighborhoods and the uncertain futures of people now on the move.
Watch our full report to hear, in their own words, how Gazans from Jabalia, Beit Hanoun, and Wadi Gaza are weighing impossible choices as the fighting moves closer to the heart of Gaza City.
Giorgia Valente contributed to this report.
