Israel orders residents of al-Shati camp in Gaza to flee south

The Israeli army on Thursday ordered the residents of the al-Shati refugee camp south of Gaza City to evacuate immediately and move south as Tel Aviv expanded its ground offensive in the Palestinian territory.

Israeli planes dropped leaflets on the camp demanding the immediate evacuation of its residents.

"Time is up. Our forces will bomb Hamas terrorists with overwhelming force in the coming hours. We do not promise that there will be another message. Evacuate immediately," reads the leaflet.

The Israeli army has ordered the 1.1 million people of northern Gaza to evacuate and move south as its forces widened their operations in the northern part of the blockaded enclave.

This week the Israeli army has expanded its air and ground attacks on the Gaza Strip, which has been under relentless airstrikes since a cross-border attack by Hamas on Oct. 7.

Nearly 10,600 people have been killed in the conflict, including 9,061 Palestinians and more than 1,538 Israelis.

Besides the large number of casualties and massive displacements of people, basic supplies are running low for the 2.3 million residents in Gaza due to the Israeli siege.