The U.N. warned that telling almost half the Gaza population to flee en masse would be calamitous, and it urged Israel to reverse the order.
Hamas told people to ignore the evacuation order, but some Palestinians hesitated to leave out of fear that nowhere was safe in the tiny territory.
Hamas’ assault last Saturday killed more than 1,300 Israelis, most of whom were civilians, and roughly 1,500 Hamas militants were killed during the fighting, the Israeli government said.
Israel’s raid was the first word of troops entering Gaza since Israel launched its round-the-clock bombardment in retaliation for Hamas’ attack, in which militant fighters massacred hundreds in southern Israel and snatched some 150 people to Gaza as hostages.
A military spokesman said that after Israeli ground troops conducted their raids in Gaza on Friday, they then left.
Hamas militants operate in civilian areas, where Israel has long accused them of using Palestinians as human shields.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has vowed to “crush” Hamas, which has ruled Gaza since 2007. »
