Smoke rises following Israeli airstrikes on Gaza. Photo: Reuters/Amir Cohen

Israel is bombing Hamas’ terror infrastructure in the Gaza Strip, in response to Hamas’ massacre against Israeli civilians on October 7. Israel has warned civilians to leave immediately.

But Hamas and the Palestinian Authority (PA) are both telling Gazan civilians to ignore Israel’s warnings and not seek shelter further south in the Strip.

Hamas and the PA both expect Gazan civilians to stay and serve as human shields.

Palestinian Media Watch reported earlier that Hamas’ Ministry of Interior called on Gazans “not to cooperate.” and “not to leave their homes,” despite Israel’s warnings.

Now PA Prime Minister Muhammad Shtayyeh has joined Hamas, and “warned” Gazan civilians against following the Israeli notifications, telling Gazans “not to leave the land” no matter “how great the sacrifices may be.”

In other words, even if it means the civilians will die in their homes, acting as human shields for Hamas, they should stay:

PA Prime Minister Muhammad Shtayyeh: “The [PA] government warns against the [Israeli] military order that seeks to expel our people in the Gaza Strip and the creation of a new Nakba [i.e., “the catastrophe,” the establishment of the State of Israel], and we emphasize that our people will not leave its land and will not be expelled from it, regardless of how great the sacrifices may be.”

[Official PA TV, Oct. 16, 2023]

Moreover, the Israeli army posted an audio recording of a phone call held in Arabic between an Israeli intelligence officer and a Palestinian resident of Jabaliya in the Gaza Strip during Hamas’ terror war against Israel.

The Gazan explains that Hamas are taking people’s car keys to prevent them from evacuating south:

Headline: “Phone Call Between an IDF Intelligence Officer from Unit 504 and a Jabalya Resident in Northern Gaza”

Gazan: “They are preventing people from leaving.”

IDF Officer: “Tell me where exactly it is that they stopped you.”

Gazan: “Those who are here near the agency. They are taking the ID card and the car keys.”

IDF Officer: “You mean the Movement? Hamas? Who is stopping you? Hamas?”

Gazan: “Yes, yes.”

[Israeli army website, Oct. 15, 2023]

The author is a senior analyst at Palestinian Media Watch, where a version of this article was originally published.