Report: Hamas Prevents Civilians from Evacuating Northern Gaza

The Palestinian Hamas terror group is reportedly preventing civilians from leaving the northern Gaza Strip, after the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) warned residents Friday morning to flee south ahead of an anticipated ground invasion.

As Breitbart News reported, the IDF issued its warning for all residents north of the Wadi Gaza river. It gave residents 24 hours to flee, though it later acknowledged that an evacuation could take days.

However, Hamas discouraged people from leaving.

The Times of Israel reports:

A Gazan resident speaking to The Times of Israel on condition of anonymity confirms that Hamas is preventing residents of the north of the strip from evacuating to the south, following an evacuation order issued by the IDF for Friday morning.

“When they find people going to their cars, they force them to go back,” the Gazan man says.

The Palestinian Authority has also criticized the evacuation order, saying it would amount to giving up the land, though Israel has promised residents can return after Hamas is gone. Egypt, which controls the only border crossing other than those into Israel, has refused to open it to Palestinian refugees, urging them to stay.