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1m chilling new leaflets dropped warning to flee battlefield NOW after Israelis ‘encircle Gaza City’ & more Brits escape
Israeli PM declared 'nothing will stop us' and rejected all calls for a ceasefire
ONE million leaflets have been dropped into Gaza warning civilians to flee the battlefield NOW as Israel claims to have Gaza City "encircled".
Hundreds of thousands of Palestinians remain trapped in the path of fighting, but some Brits today managed to finally escape the carnage.
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Israel Defence Forces claim to have completed their "encirclement" of Gaza City as they engage in "face-to-face combat" in its fight to eliminate Hamas.
Israel's military said it "advanced to a significant stage in the war" as its troops swarmed the besieged city on three fronts.
On Thursday, tanks massed near the coast in the north, reinforcements crossed to the north east and armoured troops advanced towards the sea in the south.
"We are at the gates of Gaza City," Israeli military commander Brigadier General Itzik Cohen said.
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He added that troops "have destroyed much of Hamas's capabilities, attacked its strategic facilities, all of its array of explosives, its underground tunnels and other facilities."
As Israeli troops and tanks push deeper into northern and central Gaza from all sides, 1.2million leaflets were dropped from jets this afternoon.
The pamphlets warned residents to "evacuate ASAP" and declared: "The Gaza District is a battlefield".
"Your presence in this area is not safe," they read.
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Speaking alongside US secretary of state Antony Blinken, the Israeli president Isaac Herzog also urged civilians to "please move out".
"Six million text messages, four million phone calls and 1.2 million pamphlets speaks for itself as we protect the civilians moving out to safe zones," he added.
Israel also earlier warned residents to immediately evacuate the Shati refugee camp, which borders Gaza City's centre.
Israel has denied all calls for a ceasefire and yesterday president Benjamin Netanyahu announced: "We are advancing north.
"Nothing will stop us."
Casualties on both sides are expected to rise dramatically as the fierce building-to-building fighting moves into dense residential neighbourhoods of Gaza City.
Meanwhile, 92 Britons trapped inside Gaza were approved to cross the Rafah border into Egypt today.
The in-laws of Scotland's First Minister Humza Yousaf finally reached safety this afternoon and spoke of the "living nightmare" they ensured for weeks trapped inside Gaza.
Blinken arrived in Israel today to press for more aid to be allowed into Gaza amid growing alarm over the humanitarian crisis unfolding.
Inside Gaza, the Hamas-run health ministry claims that more than 9,000 Palestinians have been killed in Israel's bombardment of the bomb-blitzed enclave.
This includes over 3,700 Palestinian children killed so far in the 25 days of fighting,
The UN estimates that 2.3 million people have been driven from their homes that have been levelled in Israel's relentless aerial assault.
Hundreds of thousands of Palestinians remain in the "battlefield" of northern Gaza, and have crowded into UN facilities.
Food, water and fuel are wavering near empty under Israel's total siege, and overwhelmed hospitals warn they are on the verge of collapse.
Gaza's biggest hospital said they were forced to switch off their generator today, reports.
It comes as...
- Israel claims to have 'encircled' Gaza City as their ground offensive advances all the way to the coast
- The refugee camp dubbed a "terrorist stronghold" was targeted for a second time in 24 hours
- A top Hamas commander, Ibrahim Biari, was reportedly killed in the blast
- The Rafah crossing is expected to reopen today and allow 92 British nationals to leave Gaza
- Senior MPs joined the fight to get kids and Brits out of Gaza
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Today, Hezbollah's terror chief issued a chilling warning to Israel fuelling fears of an all-out war in his first public address since Hamas's October 7 massacre.
In his much-anticipated speech, the Iran-backed militia leader Hassan Nasrallah warned that the battle has extended to "more than one front."
The Hezbollah chief, 63, praised the Hamas October 7 attack and branded it a "sacred operation" that was "100% Palestinian."
Yesterday, Hezbollah mounted what appeared to be its biggest attacks in four weeks as it pounded Israeli military positions in the country's north with mortar fire and suicide drones.
The Israeli military said it retaliated with warplanes and helicopter gunships.
Hezbollah is one of the most heavily-armed, non-state groups in the world and is the most formidable of Iran's allies in their self-styled "Axis of Resistance".
Prime minister Netanyahu responded: "I tell our enemies to the north don't test us, you will pay dearly."
Meanwhile, US intelligence sources claimed that the Wagner Group could team up with Hezbollah and open up a "second front" in the Israeli war.
It comes as Hamas was revealed to have been firing rockets at Israel from a missile battery hidden in an orchard next to a water plant paid for by the EU.
In further evidence the terrorists use civilian sites as military locations, the mobile rocket launcher was placed just yards from the critical £9million desalination works, built by Unicef.
The IDF said the choice of location was a “deliberate strategy”.
Hamas has already set up command centres and rocket hubs under hospitals, schools, mosques and in residential areas.
The IDF said it “makes every effort to avoid civilian casualties so [Hamas] do this to make it even more difficult”.
The UN said 20 people were killed after a school-turned-shelter was damaged in the second strike on the Jabalia Refugee Camp in Gaza on Thursday.
"This comes after two days of heavy bombardments in the area," they added.
Hamas claimed the initial strikes on the Jabalia camp killed 50 civilians while the second strike at the west side of the camp in the Al-Faluga area left dozens dead and injured, including children.
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The terror group also claimed that seven hostages were among the victims of the attack, including three foreign nationals.
The IDF described the explosion as a "wide-scale strike on terrorists and terror infrastructure".
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