The Israeli army has issued a forced evacuation threat for Gaza City, telling residents the city was a “dangerous combat zone” and they should leave, Al Jazeera reports.

In a post on X, a spokesperson said the army had “begun destroying Hamas’s infrastructure in Gaza City”.

It instructed residents to leave “as quickly as possible via Al-Rashid Street to the areas designated south of the Gaza Valley by vehicle or on foot”.

Conditions in supposed “safe zones” in southern Gaza are dire and overcrowded, and deadly Israeli attacks there are frequent.