Following intelligence indications that the Hamas terrorist organization was attempting to regroup and rebuild its forces in the area of Jabaliya in northern Gaza, the IDF called on civilians in the area to evacuate for their own safety via designated humanitarian routes to the expanded Humanitarian Area in Al-Mawasi. The IDF's 162nd Division is currently conducting operations against Hamas terrorist targets in the area.

However, according to the IDF, Hamas is actively preventing Gazan civilians from heeding the IDF’s calls to move away from the combat zone in Jabaliya. In one conversation between an IDF representative and a Gazan civilian during the evacuation, the Gazan civilian described how Hamas forces were hitting them with sticks in order to prevent them from evacuating from the area.

"While the IDF makes every effort to move civilians away from the battlefield, Hamas continues to make every effort to keep civilians in the line of fire," the IDF stated