War in Gaza: Israeli army calls on residents to leave for a "humanitarian zone" further south

The Israeli army is stepping up preparations for a ground assault on Gaza, asking civilians to move to a designated area further south.

The Israeli army called on Gaza City residents on Saturday morning to evacuate to a "humanitarian zone" declared by Israel further south in the Gaza Strip, in anticipation of an upcoming ground assault on the Palestinian territory's largest city.

"From now on, and in order to facilitate the departure of the city's residents, we declare the [coastal] area of ​​Al-Mawasi [in the southern Gaza Strip] a humanitarian zone," announced a message in Arabic "to the residents of Gaza City and all those there" published on social media by Colonel Avichay Adraee, the Israeli army's spokesman for the Arabic-speaking public.

"Take this opportunity to move without delay to the humanitarian zone and join the thousands of people who have already gone there," the text added, while the UN estimates the number of people present in the Gaza City region at around one million and warns of a coming "disaster" in the event of an expansion of the Israeli offensive on the city.