Israeli Prime Minister warns Gaza residents: "Leave now" in preparation for a comprehensive ground operation
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu issued an urgent and heated warning to the residents of Gaza City on Monday, September 8, urging them to "leave immediately," following Israel's announcement of its intention to intensify airstrikes in preparation for a large-scale ground military operation.
The warning came in a video message from Netanyahu in which he said: "I tell the residents of Gaza to seize this opportunity and listen to me carefully: You have been warned... Leave now." He emphasized that Israeli forces are "organizing themselves now and gathering inside Gaza City for a ground operation."
The Israeli Prime Minister added that the army has bombed and destroyed 50 buildings used by Hamas in just two days, noting that "in two days we destroyed 50 terrorist towers, and this is just the beginning of the intensive ground operation in Gaza City. I tell the residents: You have been warned, leave now." He described these actions as "just a prelude, the beginning, of the intensive main operation."
In parallel with the field escalation, Israel issued what it considered a final warning to Hamas. Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant posted a warning on the "X" platform stating: "This is the final warning to the Hamas killers, whether in Gaza or in luxury hotels abroad: Release the hostages and lay down your weapons, or Gaza will be destroyed and you will be eliminated." This came shortly after similar statements from U.S. President Donald Trump.
On another front, during the opening session of the sixtieth session of the United Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Turk, expressed his deep concern over what he described as the "explicit rhetoric of extermination" coming from Israeli officials, warning that the Gaza Strip has effectively turned into a "graveyard."
Turk strongly criticized the "mass killings perpetrated by Israel in Gaza," stating: "The mass killings committed by Israel against Palestinian civilians in Gaza, the indescribable suffering and widespread destruction it causes, the prevention of sufficient aid to save lives, the resulting starvation of civilians, the killing of journalists and UN staff and NGO workers, and the repeated commission of war crimes, all shock the conscience of the world."
The High Commissioner called for "decisive international action" to end what he described as the ongoing "massacre" in the region.
