TEL AVIV, September 18. /TASS/. Over 450,000 Gaza City residents left it ahead of a large-scale Israeli offensive, IDF Spokesman Brig. Gen. Effie Defrin has told reporters.

"At this point, according to our estimates, over 450,000 residents of the city have been evacuated to the south [of the Gaza Strip]," he said.

The military spokesman went on to say that residents are being evacuated via two corridors, one of them along the sea coast. At the same time, he claimed that armed radicals from Hamas are trying to impede the effort.

Before Israel launched its military operation, Gaza City's population stood at around one million people.

On September 16, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu confirmed the start of an intensive offensive operation by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) in Gaza, with the operation's stated goal being to dismantle the Palestinian movement Hamas. Prior to that, the Israeli army repeatedly warned local residents to leave the combat zone, including by dropping leaflets over the city.