PA Prime Minister tells Gazans to ignore Israel’s evacuation warnings and stay home as human shields for Hamas

• Israel warned Gazans to evacuate to the southern Gaza Strip and not stay home as human shields for Hamas

As Israel is bombing Hamas’ terror infrastructure in the Gaza Strip in response to Hamas’ massacre against Israeli civilians last Saturday, Hamas and the PA as one are telling Gazan civilians to ignore Israel’s warnings and not seek shelter further south in the Strip. Hamas and the PA both expect the 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 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 (i.e., warnings) 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]

Hamas war on Israel October 2023 - At least 1,200 Israelis, including over 1,000 civilians, were murdered and over 4,800 wounded, in addition to approximately 244 who were abducted into the Gaza Strip (including 110 later released or liberated and at least 26 later killed), in a Hamas terror war that began when approximately 3,000 Hamas terrorists broke through Israel's security fence at the Gaza Strip border and launched a surprise attack, taking control of several Israeli towns and attacking a music festival on the Jewish holiday of Simchat Torah, which fell on the Sabbath, Oct. 7, 2023. During the massacre the terrorists tortured, raped, shot, beheaded, and burned their victims alive, murdering entire families and leaving at least 21 children without parents. Hamas terrorists also fired at least 5,000 rockets at Israeli population centers. In response, Israel launched Operation Iron Swords to counter the Hamas terror threat. Hezbollah terrorists in Lebanon joined Hamas' terror war starting from the following day, attacking Israel from the north. Occasional rocket launches and shootings continued from Lebanon throughout the war. A ceasefire and prisoner exchange deal began on Nov. 24, 2023, in which Israel agreed to release 150 terrorist prisoners, pause drone surveillance in the Gaza Strip, and allow movement between the northern and southern Gaza Strip, in return for 50 Israeli female and child hostages held by Hamas. The deal was subsequently extended with additional releases, until Hamas violated the agreement and resumed attacking on Dec. 1, 2023.

The following is a longer excerpt of PA PM Shtayyeh’s warning to Gazans:

PA Prime Minister Muhammad Shtayyeh: “The [PA] government warns against the [Israeli] military order that seeks to expel our people in the Gaza Strip from their homes and the creation of a new Nakba (i.e., “the catastrophe,” the Palestinian term for 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, and it is capable of dealing with them and thwarting them, just as it has thwarted many projects of elimination and resettling during the previous periods of struggle (refers to Israeli evacuation warnings to Gazans prior to a ground campaign during Hamas’ terror war on Israel; see note below -Ed.). The international community, and foremost among it the American government, must quickly intervene to stop the aggression.”

[Official PA TV, Oct. 16, 2023]