Israel orders evacuations in Gaza City amid military operations

Jerusalem, April 11 (IANS) The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) on Friday issued an urgent evacuation order for residents in several neighbourhoods of eastern Gaza City as military operations intensified in the area.

In a message posted on social media X, IDF Arabic-language spokesperson Avichay Adraee called on civilians to move westward for their safety.

"The IDF is working intensively in your areas to destroy terrorist infrastructure," he wrote, Xinhua news agency reported. "For your safety, you must evacuate immediately to the known shelter centres in western Gaza City," he added.

Meanwhile, the IDF said in a statement that it had killed Hamas militant Ahmad Iyad Muhammad Farhat during a recent operation in Tel al-Sultan refugee camp in Rafah, southern Gaza Strip.

According to the IDF, Farhat was the head of sniper operations for Hamas' Tel al-Sultan Battalion and was responsible for organising and carrying out attacks on Israeli forces.

The IDF also reported additional operations since Thursday across the southern and northern Gaza Strip, in which several Hamas militants were killed.

The military added that it had dismantled Hamas' military infrastructure and neutralized booby-trapped buildings during these efforts.

On Thursday, the IDF and Israeli Security Agency said in a joint statement that they had killed the commander of Hamas' Shejaiya Battalion in Gaza.

According to the statement, the commander, Haitham Razek Abd al-Karim Sheikh Khalil, was killed on Wednesday in a strike against a command and control center located about one kilometre from IDF troops operating in Gaza City.

The statement alleged that "several Hamas terrorists operated from within the command centre to plan and execute terrorist attacks against Israeli civilians and IDF soldiers."

According to the IDF, Khalil commanded the infiltration into Israel's Kibbutz Nahal Oz and took part in the attack on southern Israel on October 7, 2023. In recent years, he served as a platoon commander in the battalion and guided Hamas' tunnel operations. He assumed command of Shejaiya Battalion following the elimination of the previous commanders, Jamil Wadia and Fahim Farhat.

--IANS

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