Israel’s Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT) exposed the hypocrisy of senior Hamas officials in Gaza who submitted requests to Israel to leave Gaza while preventing “innocent Gazan civilians” from leaving the Gaza City area, which is currently a war zone.

A COGAT spokesperson stated, “While Hamas calls on the residents of Gaza City NOT to move south, its operatives fear for their own lives and are seeking to leave the Gaza Strip. They are using residents of northern Gaza as human shields while looking out for their own interests.

“Two weeks ago, a member of the Gaza City Council, Anwar Atallah, fled the Gaza Strip together with his family through the mechanism operated by Israel that allows Gazans to exit via Jordan to a third country.

“Many other senior officials have submitted requests for their families to leave the Strip, and some have even asked to leave themselves, but their requests were denied by Israel.

“Israel continues to call on residents of northern Gaza to move south for their protection.”

(YWN Israel Desk—Jerusalem)