Palestinians said they had received renewed warnings from Israel's military to move from north Gaza to the south of the strip, with the added warning that they could be identified as sympathizers with a "terrorist organization" if they stayed put.
The message was delivered in leaflets marked with the Israel Defense Forces name and logo from Saturday and sent to people via mobile phone audio messages across the Gaza Strip, a narrow territory that is just 45 km (28 miles) long.
"Urgent warning, to residents of Gaza. Your presence north of Wadi Gaza puts your life in danger. Whoever chooses not to leave north Gaza to the south of Wadi Gaza might be identified as an accomplice in a terrorist organization," the leaflet said.
Israel has pounded Gaza with airstrikes since the Palestinian militant group Hamas launched a deadly attack on Israeli soil on Oct. 7.
Israel has previously warned Palestinians to move south, although Palestinians said they had not previously been told they could be considered "terrorist" sympathizers if they did not. They also say making the journey south remains highly risky amid airstrikes and say areas of the south have also been hit.
Israel has amassed tanks and troops near the fenced border around Gaza for a planned ground invasion aiming to annihilate Hamas, after several inconclusive wars dating to its seizure of power there in 2007.
"We are going to go into the Gaza Strip... to destroy Hamas operatives and Hamas infrastructure," Chief of Staff Lieutenant General Herzi Halevi told troops in a video distributed by the Israeli military on Saturday. "We will have in our mind the memories of the images and those who fell on Saturday two weeks ago."
