Mysterious messages offer Gazans an escape from the Strip, prompting Hamas to threaten back

Against the backdrop of the protracted war and Hamas's refusal to proceed with another hostage deal in accordance with Israel's conditions, more and more residents of the Gaza Strip have been receiving text messages in recent days offering them to leave the Strip.

The text messages include short and catchy messages of persuasion, offering the homeless Gazans a bright future, and an offer to meet with an Israeli official in the area of the Netzarim Corridor – in the central Gaza Strip – in order to discuss the possibility of voluntarily leaving Gaza.

The Walla website quoted one of the text messages that reached the residents of Gaza on Tuesday, in which it was written: "Residents of a-Shati, you have received a gift from heaven and this is only the beginning. Do you want a better future? Call."

A Gazan was also quoted as writing on his Facebook account that he also received the text message, with contact details and a suggestion to examine the possibility of taking him out of Gaza. "I'll be the first to leave" if there is a possibility, he wrote. "Here you can't live after what Hamas did."