Israel delivers ‘final warning’ for Gaza City residents to evacuate as it intensifies its military ops

The Israeli military on Wednesday issued what it called a “final warning” for the residents in Gaza City before it intensifies its bombardment and offensive. The Israeli authorities urged Gazans to leave the coastal enclave’s largest city while Hamas was reportedly considering requesting amendments to US President Donald Trump’s ceasefire ultimatum.

Israel’s Defence Minister, Israel Katz, released a statement in which he said that the warning was the last opportunity for civilians to move to southern Gaza as the military encircled the city. On Wednesday, Gaza’s civil defence agency said that the Israeli forces had killed at least 46 people, including 36 in Gaza City.

Meanwhile, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) announced that the intensification of the Israeli assault had forced it to suspend operations in Gaza City. “This is the last opportunity for Gaza residents who wish to do so to move south and leave Hamas operatives isolated in Gaza City,” Katz said in a statement on Wednesday. Those who remained will be considered terrorists and terrorist supporters”, he added.

Closure of the last remaining route

In the midst of this, the Israeli military announced earlier the closure of the last remaining route for residents in southern Gaza to move north, in effect cleaving Gaza in two. However, the Israeli authorities made it clear that the residents in the north could still move southwards along the coastal route to flee Israel’s offensive.

All this is happening while Hamas is reportedly considering requesting amendments to Trump’s Gaza plan, which demands that Hamas disarm, The Guardian reported. Trump’s proposal also disqualifies Hamas from any governing role in Gaza. Trump said on Tuesday that the group would “pay in hell” if it rejected the plan.

According to a Palestinian source close to the group who spoke to Agence France-Presse, the group could ask for changes to clauses related to disarmament and the expulsion of Hamas and its allies from Gaza. The Palestinian group would also be seeking international guarantees that Israel fully withdraws from Gaza and that no assassination attempts will be made on Hamas’s leadership.

Meanwhile, Egypt’s foreign minister, Badr Abdelatty, said on Wednesday that elements of the Trump plan required further negotiation, a sentiment that Qatar had expressed a day earlier. However, it is unclear how the US and Israel would respond to these requests.

Trump’s 20-point plan also demands that Hamas must release the remaining 48 hostages it holds within 72 hours of a ceasefire coming into effect, while the Israeli military would return nearly 2,000 Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli jails and gradually withdraw its troops to a buffer zone at the edge of the Gaza Strip.

The deal noted that the cessation in fighting would be accompanied by a surge in humanitarian aid and reconstruction in Gaza. However, the plan does not outline a Palestinian state, a demand of Hamas and the wider Arab world.