More than 640,000 people have evacuated Gaza City, the Israeli military estimated on September 23. The mass evacuation of the city’s population comes as Israel’s offensive continues to grow in the northern Gaza Strip.
The offensive, Operation Gideon’s Chariots II, was approved in August and became more intense in mid-September as the IDF expanded operations with three divisions in portions of Gaza City. The Israeli military called on Palestinians to leave the urban center and its environs over the last month. By August 17, the IDF estimated that 350,000 people had evacuated Gaza City, heading south for areas away from the fighting.
On September 24, IDF Chief of Staff Eyal Zamir called on residents of Gaza to “rise up and break away from Hamas — it is responsible for your suffering. The war and the suffering will end if Hamas releases the hostages and relinquishes its weapons.” Zamir made these comments during a situation assessment in Gaza, where he met with Major General Yaniv Asor, head of Israel’s Southern Command; Major General Dado Bar Kalifa, head of the IDF’s Manpower Directorate; and Brigadier General Moran Omer, commander of the 36th Division.
The 36th Division is one of at least three divisions operating against Hamas in Gaza City. Over the last week, the IDF has also noted the roles of the 98th Division and the 162nd Division, as well as the component units of the three divisions, including the Givati Brigade, the Nahal Brigade, and the 7th Armored Brigade.
Zamir added on September 24 that the IDF’s operations continue to “focus on striking Gaza City to create conditions for the release of the hostages and for Hamas’ decisive defeat” and stated that most of the civilian population of Gaza City had already evacuated. He also mentioned the death of IDF Major Shahar Netanel Bozaglo, an officer in the 7th Armored Brigade, who was killed in northern Gaza. Zamir said that the officer had left his home on October 7, 2023, to join his unit and fight Hamas and had continued to serve since then. Another Israeli soldier from the Givati Brigade’s Reconnaissance Unit was wounded on September 24.
The IDF’s operations in Gaza continue to involve precision airstrikes against individual terrorists. For instance, on September 21, the IDF said it eliminated Majed Abu Salmiya, a Hamas sniper. In another incident, the IDF described targeting a terrorist cell: “[S]everal terrorists and weapons were identified in a structure. In a precise airstrike, the terrorists were eliminated, and numerous secondary explosions were seen, testifying to the presence of weapons in the area.” Another strike by the Israeli Navy targeted Iyad Abu Yusuf, who the IDF said was the deputy commander of Hamas’s Naval Police, in central Gaza.
The Israeli military provided new details about humanitarian aid entering Gaza. With most of the population of Gaza City evacuating south, almost 2 million people now reside in either the Central Camps area of the territory, which is still under Hamas control, or Mawasi in southern Gaza, a humanitarian zone established in the first month of the war. The IDF said on September 21 that “over the past week, close to 1,700 trucks were collected and distributed this week from the Gazan side of the Kerem Shalom and Zikim Crossings.” In addition, 1,300 trucks entered through crossings into Gaza during the same period. On September 22, the IDF added that 460 trucks had entered Gaza.
“Efforts to facilitate a broader humanitarian response in southern Gaza took place, including the establishment of an additional shelter complex, clearing areas for shelters and the entry of tens of thousands of tents,” the IDF’s Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT) stated. On September 19, COGAT reported that approximately 24,000 tents had been transferred to the territory.
Terrorist groups in Gaza have continued to attempt to target Israel with their severely depleted stocks of rockets. On September 21, sirens sounded in the southern Israeli city of Ashdod. The Israeli military then struck a building from which it said that Hamas “terrorists had launched two rockets toward the areas of Lakhish and Ashdod.”
The continued Israeli operations in Gaza City took place during the UN General Assembly, and as several European countries announced that they would recognize a Palestinian state.
The family of Israeli hostage Alon Ohel released a photo of him on September 24. The image was from a video Hamas had released on September 22.
