IDF leaflets warn Gaza residents city is now a 'battlefield' ahead of expected ground invasion

A smoke plume billows after Israeli bombardment in Rafah in the southern of Gaza Strip on October 28, 2023 amid the ongoing battles between Israel and the Palestinian group Hamas. (Photo by SAID KHATIB/AFP via Getty Images)

The Israel Defense Forces have warned residents of Gaza City that the area is now a "battlefield" as Israel escalates its airstrikes and ground incursions.

“To the residents of the Gaza Strip: The Gaza governorate (Gaza City) has become a battlefield. Shelters in northern Gaza and Gaza governorate are not safe,” leaflets dropped by fighter jets warn, according to AFP.

The Israeli military is warning Gazans to "evacuate immediately" to the south.

Israel has amassed hundreds of thousands of troops at the Gaza border in the past three weeks since the Oct. 7 terrorist attacks that killed as many as 1,400 Israelis. Soldiers have been awaiting orders to begin a full-scale invasion of Gaza to eradicate Hamas' military capabilities and rescue more than 230 hostages currently held by terrorists.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will hold a press conference at 8:30 p.m. local time to give an update on the war against Hamas. It will be Netanyahu's first time facing press questions since the war started.