Israel’s military orders civilians to evacuate Gaza City, ahead of a feared ground offensive

Israel’s military on Friday directed the hundreds of thousands of residents in Gaza City to evacuate “for their own safety and protection,” ahead of a feared Israeli ground offensive. The directive, which comes on the seventh day of the war after a deadly Hamas attack, directs residents to flee deeper south into the Gaza Strip, a narrow coastal territory. Israel’s directive charged that Hamas militants were hiding in tunnels under the city.