80,000 residents of Gaza Strip flee to the south

Israeli troops advanced into downtown Gaza, and Israeli officials said 80,000 residents of the Gaza Strip headed south on Thursday.

Source: The Wall Street Journal

Details: This is the largest movement of people in the last five days since the opening of the humanitarian corridor.

The military said it was approaching the "heart of Hamas' intelligence and operational activities" in the area of Gaza City near Al-Shifa hospital. 

The military says this zone housed a combat room for command and control, a large training ground and munition factories for the production of rockets, anti-tank missiles, drones and other explosives. There were kindergartens and mosques nearby, the military said.

Background:

• On 31 October, the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) reported that they had started fighting with Hamas in the underground tunnels of the Gaza Strip.
• On 2 November, the IDF said their ground forces and tanks had clashed with Hamas terrorist cells in the northern Gaza Strip at night, resulting in dozens of militants being killed.
• Reports also indicated that the IDF's engineering units had launched a large-scale operation to destroy Hamas tunnels in the Gaza Strip, which the IDF has taken over; over 100 tunnels have been ruined so far.
• Later, the IDF stated that they were already operating inside Gaza City and surrounding it from several sides.
• On 9 November, the White House said that Israel had agreed to introduce four-hour daily humanitarian breaks during military operations in northern Gaza. 

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