In recent days, soldiers and officers of Unit 504 in the Intelligence Division appealed to the residents of the northern Gaza Strip to evacuate to the south for their safety, ahead of the IDF invasion. However, according to an IDF report, Hamas is insisting on retaining the civilian residents of the northern Gaza Strip as a human shield and preventing them from escaping to the south, with checkpoints manned by armed terrorists.
The IDF Spokesperson’s office on Thursday disseminated a recording of a conversation between an officer in Unit 504 a resident of the Gaza Strip, in which the resident details the actions taken by Hamas to prevent residents from moving south. An English transcript of the conversation is provided below the embed.
Gaza resident: Hello?
Officer: Muhammad?
Gaza resident: Yes
Officer: How are you?
Gaza resident: Yes
Spokesman: It’s an IDF officer speaking to you. To maintain your personal safety, I ask you to go toward Khan Yunis urgently.
Resident of Gaza: Where?
Officer: Toward Khan Yunis urgently, I don’t want you to endanger yourself and that’s why I’m telling you to go toward Khan Yunis.
Gaza resident: All the roads are blocked.
Officer: Where you are now it’s dangerous. You need… where is it blocked? Who blocked the road? Hamas?
Gaza resident: Yes
Officer: What?
Gaza resident: Yes… that’s right.
Officer: Where did they block the road?
Resident of Gaza: On the Saleh al-Din axis.
Officer: Saleh Al-Din?
Gaza resident: Yes
Officer: How did they block the road?
Gaza resident: They just direct the people back home.
Spokesman: They put vehicles? Police or…
Gaza resident: Yes, yes.
Officer: How exactly? Explain to me. Please did you see it with your own eyes?
Gaza resident: In the car… people go and they just take them back home.
Officer: How did they block the road? Explain to me.
Gaza resident: They shoot at people.
Officer: What are they shooting? Do they shoot at people who want to leave?
Gaza resident: Yes, yes, yes.
