The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) released new testimony from a Gaza City resident who told a COGAT officer, “We want to head south, but Hamas is blocking the way.”

The account underscores what Israeli officials describe as Hamas’s strategy of deliberately trapping civilians to prevent evacuation. According to the IDF, the group uses this tactic to keep non-combatants in harm’s way, effectively employing them as human shields during ongoing fighting.

Israel has repeatedly accused Hamas of endangering its own population by embedding its fighters and weapons within civilian areas. Testimonies such as this add weight to those claims, highlighting the difficulties faced by families seeking safety in southern Gaza.

International observers continue to express concern about the humanitarian crisis in the territory, even as Israel stresses that Hamas’s actions make evacuation and aid delivery more difficult.