‘Gaza is burning’: Israel vows no retreat as full evacuation of Gaza ordered

“Gaza is burning,” Israel Katz, Israel’s defense minister, said Tuesday, promising that the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) would strike “with an iron fist” until Hamas is vanquished and the remaining captives are released.

“We will not relent and we will not go back — until the completion of the mission,” Katz wrote on X, as the military issued its first order for all residents of Gaza City to evacuate.

Israel pushed forward with plans for a massive offensive to seize what it described as Hamas’ final stronghold, which coincided with the unusual evacuation warning. There are still hundreds of thousands of Palestinians in Gaza City, many of whom are already debilitated from repeated displacements and famine-like conditions.

Families were packed aboard cars, trucks, and donkey carts with their possessions heaped high as Associated Press reporters observed more traffic than usual leaving the city. Aid organizations cautioned, however, that the majority of civilians cannot afford to leave. A family moving south costs more than $1,000, according to the UN, and the shelters there are already congested and lacking in supplies of food and medication.

Over the course of the last two days, Israel’s forces destroyed fifty high-rise structures in Gaza City, claiming that Hamas was exploiting them for military objectives. According to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, the demolitions were “just the start” of a more extensive ground attack.

According to Gaza’s civil defense officials, bodies were found and survivors were retrieved from the debris on Tuesday. They cautioned that there might be more stranded individuals.

Inside Gaza, medical staff and residents protested against evacuation orders, saying hospitals would remain open. “We will never leave our land … health care workers won’t leave and we are calling for protection,” said Dr. Muneer al-Boursh of Gaza’s Health Ministry.

In Jerusalem, families of hostages pleaded with Israeli lawmakers to reconsider. “If I was released through a deal, then apparently that’s the right way to free the rest,” said Iair Horn, a former captive whose brother is still being held in Gaza.