While Hamas attempts to prevent residents of Gaza City from evacuating the city, as instructed by the IDF, the terror group’s leaders are scrambling to get their own families out of the enclave, COGAT revealed in a post on Sunday.

In a post to X, COGAT (Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories) showed several Hamas officials who made requests to Israel to allow their families to leave the Gaza Strip, and some even requested permission to leave themselves. 

This comes amid repeated reports from Gaza City residents that Hamas has been instructing them not to leave the city, despite IDF instructions to evacuate, and amid indications that Hamas has even attempted to mislead residents into entering active combat zones by distributing fake IDF evacuation maps, instructing residents to enter areas already closed off by the Israeli military. 

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

COGAT shared the example of Anwar Atallah, who successfully fled Gaza to Jordan with his family a couple weeks ago. 

“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,” the statement by COGAT continued. 

In its statement, COGAT did not explain why Anwar Atallah’s request was approved, however, he appears to be a lower level official than the others mentioned in the post. 

The COGAT Facebook account also shared a letter sent by Hamas to its employees in Gaza City, ordering them not to evacuate the city, as instructed to do by the IDF. 

A similar post was made by COGAT chief, Maj.-Gen. Ghassan Alian to his Arabic Facebook account, where he accused Hamas of using the residents of Gaza City as “human shields.” 

“Hamas’s hypocrisy is blatant. While its operatives try to flee the Strip with their families, the murderous organization abandons you, the residents of Gaza, and exerts psychological terror on you to remain in Gaza City as human shields,” Alian said. 

He warned the Gaza residents to listen to the IDF, not Hamas, saying Hamas “endangers you, harms your families, and sacrifices the entire Strip on the altar of terror, dragging it toward ruin. Do not let the organization’s lies harm you.” 

IDF Arabic Spokesman Col. Avichay Adraee also posted about the requests by Hamas members to leave the Strip, writing, “Hamas’s hypocrisy is at its peak, as while its members attempt to flee the sector with their families, the vile and despicable terrorist Hamas launches a coordinated and repugnant campaign for its deadly goals, aiming to prevent residents from evacuating Gaza City to ensure their safety. Hamas sacrifices the entire sector on the altar of terrorism and leads the Gaza Strip to destruction.” 

As of Monday morning, the IDF estimates that around 300,000 people have fled Gaza City to the humanitarian zones in the south.

On Sunday, COGAT also announced the clearing of a 15-dunam plot in the southern area of Khan Younis, which was prepared for people fleeing to the south to set up tents. 

“A 15-dunam plot in Khan Yunis’ Hamad neighborhood was cleared of rubble by international teams and organizations, to help residents relocating from northern to southern Gaza,” COGAT posted to X.

“Families have already begun moving in, and further work in Khan Yunis is planned in the coming days.”  

This article was originally published by All Israel News.