IDF Publishes Interactive Map Showing Gazans the Quickest Routes to Safe Zones

To help reduce the number of civilian casualties, the IDF has published a map of alert zones within the Gaza Strip that are intended to help Gazans locate safe regions while following the Israeli army’s instruction to evacuate specific areas in Gaza as fighting between Israel and Hamas resumes. The cease-fire came to an end on Thursday night after Israel charged the terrorist group with violating the terms of the agreement by firing rockets.

The interactive map divides Gaza into numbered regions and alerts residents to follow instructions depending on their area. In a message to Gazans, the IDF stated that they were making “great efforts to distinguish between the civilians and the terrorists.”

“Residents of the Gaza Strip, the State of Israel is at war with the terrorist organization, Hamas,” declared Lt. Col. Avichay Adraee, the IDF Spokesman and head of the Arab media division. “The terrorist organization operates from among the civilian population. This is a strategy of assimilating into the heart of residential neighborhoods and operating from within civilian institutions.”

Hamas is notorious for using Gazan residents as “human shields,” turning residential buildings such as hospitals, mosques, schools, and homes into terrorist headquarters. This is generally viewed as a strategic move by Hamas in its campaign to garner international sympathy by forcing Israel’s hand when it comes to bombing civilian infrastructure.