Israel Accuses Hamas Of Using Human Shield As War Enters Day 8

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) accused the Hamas militant group of using civilians in Gaza as "human shields" to prevent them from leaving the northern parts of the besieged territory. The IDF had ordered about 1 million civilians in and around Gaza City to move to the southern areas of Gaza on Friday, CNN reported.

However, on Saturday morning, IDF spokesman Lt. Col. Jonathan Conricus said that Hamas had "stopped" and "tried to stop Palestinian civilians from evacuating" by using messages, checkpoints and stops on the ground. He told CNN that the IDF would "assess the situation on the ground" before launching a possible ground offensive on Gaza.

He added that it was "appalling at a whole new level" that Hamas had made "active efforts" to block these people from leaving. He urged civilians to leave the area for their own safety "and return only when we tell them that it is safe to do so".

The IDF had seen “significant movement of Palestinian civilians toward the south", he said, adding that Gaza residents were “doing the clever thing, moving out of a dangerous area". In a separate statement, the spokesman clarified that "Palestinian civilians in Gaza are not our enemies and we do not target them as such", the BBC reported.

The spokesman also announced that Israeli reserve soldiers were in formation all around the Gaza Strip getting ready for the next stage of operations.