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A large-scale Israeli assault on the city in northern Gaza could push hundreds of thousands of Palestinians southward toward Egypt’s border.
Sept. 7, 2025Updated 9:03 a.m. ET
Israel’s plan to force Palestinians to flee to southern Gaza ahead of a full-scale offensive in the northern part of the enclave has raised tensions with neighboring Egypt, which is concerned that Israel will try to push Gazans into its territory.
Egyptian and Israeli officials have traded criticisms over the past few days about Israel’s preparations for a major attack on Gaza City, where hundreds of thousands of Palestinians are living.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel says the city, in northern Gaza, is one of the last strongholds of Hamas, which led the 2023 attack on Israel that set off the war.
On Sunday, Mr. Netanyahu said that 100,000 Palestinians had already fled the city after Israeli orders to leave. Hundreds of thousands more remain.
Ahead of a large-scale assault, Israel has also been bombing high-rise buildings in Gaza City that it says were used by Hamas, accusations which the group denies.
Mr. Netanyahu has called on Egypt to accept more Palestinian refugees from Gaza, without saying whether Israel would allow them to return after the war. He argued that Israel would not forcibly expel them, but rather wanted to allow whoever wanted to leave Gaza to do so.
