Israel issues ‘terrorist accomplice’ warning to Gaza residents as it urges them south
- The message was delivered in leaflets dropped by air and marked with the Israeli military logo, and in automated phone messages
- ‘Whoever chooses not to leave north Gaza to the south of Wadi Gaza might be identified as an accomplice in a terrorist organisation’
Israel’s military has warned Gaza residents that they risk being identified as accomplices “in a terrorist organisation” if they do not move south, Palestinians there said, amid growing humanitarian fears with little aid being allowed in.
More than a million people lived in the north of the Gaza Strip and hundreds of thousands have already gone southwards to cram into temporary refuges despite unremitting air and artillery strikes also hitting the southern areas they have fled to.
The first limited supplies of aid arrived on Saturday after two weeks of a total Israeli siege, but relief agencies still warn of a humanitarian catastrophe, with hospitals nearly out of fuel to power incubators and other critical equipment.
Hundreds of trucks arrived daily in Gaza before the war. On Saturday, just 20 were allowed in.
The ‘terrorist’ message to Gaza residents was delivered from Saturday in leaflets dropped by air and marked with the Israeli military logo, and in automated phone messages sent to people across the enclave.
“Whoever chooses not to leave north Gaza to the south of Wadi Gaza might be identified as an accomplice in a terrorist organisation,” the leaflets said.