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Israel pressed on Sunday with preparations for a ground offensive in Gaza, after giving Palestinians a little more time to flee northern areas it has vowed to target in response to the deadliest attack in its history.
The surprise attack by Hamas killed more than 1,300 people in the attack that Israel has compared to 9/11 in the United States, sparking a massive retaliatory bombing campaign targeting the group that has killed over 2,200 in Gaza.
Israel has warned around 1.1 million Gazans living in the north of the Palestinian territory to flee to the south ahead of a ground incursion which the military has indicated will focus on Gaza City, the base of the leadership of the Hamas group.
The military said Gaza City residents must not delay their departure but a spokesperson said late on Saturday they still had time to leave ahead of the ground offensive.
According to the United Nations, Israel’s evacuation order has triggered a “mass displacement” towards the south of the Palestinian enclave.
“Mass displacement from the north to the south of the Gaza Strip has been ongoing since… Friday morning, after Israel ordered residents to evacuate the areas ahead of military operations,” the UN’s humanitarian agency OCHA said in an update.
“Humanitarian partners report that the number of internally displaced persons (IDPs) has risen significantly over the last 24 hours; however the exact number is unknown.”
Beforehand, as of 11:00 pm (2000 GMT) on Thursday, there were 423,378 IDPs in Gaza, OCHA said.
Around 64 per cent were being hosted by UNRWA, the UN agency supporting Palestinian refugees, in 102 premises operated as designated emergency shelters.
“Some 33,054 IDPs had taken refuge at 36 public schools,” said OCHA.
“It is estimated that over 153,000 IDPs, whose homes have been destroyed or damaged, or have left their homes due to fear, are residing with relatives and neighbours, as well as in other public facilities.”
Since Friday thousands of Gazans, who cannot leave the enclave as it is blockaded by both Israel and Egypt, have packed what belongings they can into bags and suitcases, to trudge through the rubble-strewn streets.
A stream of cars, trucks, three-wheeled vehicles and donkey-drawn carts joined the frantic mass movement south, all loaded with families and their belongings, mattresses, bedding and bags strapped onto the roofs of packed vehicles.
‘More is coming’
Israel pummelled northern Gaza with fresh air strikes on Saturday. AFP reporters near the southern Israeli city of Sderot saw troops fire at the densely populated enclave, sending huge plumes of black smoke into the sky.
The Israeli military said on Saturday the bodies of some of the dozens of hostages abducted by Hamas in its attacks had been found during operations inside Gaza.
Hamas earlier reported 22 hostages had been killed in Israeli bombardments. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, wearing a flak jacket, earlier visited troops on the border front line, raising expectations of an imminent invasion.
“Are you ready for what is coming? More is coming,” he was heard telling several soldiers on a video released by his office.
To avert the risk of the conflict between Israel and Hamas escalating into a regional conflict, the United States deployed a second aircraft carrier that would “deter hostile actions against Israel”, Secretary of Defence Lloyd Austin said.
Humanitarian crisis
Alarm has grown over the fate of Palestinian civilians in blockaded and besieged Gaza — one of the world’s most densely populated areas, home to 2.4 million — if it becomes the scene of intense urban combat and house-to-house fighting.
Aid agencies have said forcing Gazans to move is impossible while the conflict rages.
But with food, water, fuel and medical supplies running low because of an Israeli blockade, aid agencies are warning of a deepening humanitarian crisis.
“The situation is catastrophic,” said Jumaa Nasser, who travelled from Beit Lahia in northern Gaza with his wife, mother and seven children.
“We’ve had no food or sleep. We don’t know what to do. I’ve given my fate up to God,” he told AFP.
The World Health Organisation (WHO) said on Saturday that forcing thousands of hospital patients to evacuate to already overflowing hospitals in the southern Gaza Strip could be “tantamount to a death sentence”.
Exiled Hamas chief Ismail Haniyeh accused Israel on Saturday of committing “war crimes” in Gaza but he ruled out any “displacement” of Gazans, including to Egypt.
Hamas is regularly accused by Israel of using civilians as human shields.
On the diplomatic front, Chinese envoy Zhai Jun will visit the Middle East next week to push for a ceasefire and promote peace talks, state broadcaster CCTV reported on Sunday.
Saudi Arabia has also pressed for an “immediate ceasefire”. Russia said it had asked the UN Security Council to vote on Monday on its ceasefire resolution.
Iran warns of ‘far-reaching consequences’ if Israel not stopped
Iran has warned in a social media post that if Israel’s “war crimes and genocide” are not stopped then the situation could spiral out of control with “far-reaching consequences.”
The post on X by Iran’s mission to the United Nations came after Axios reported Tehran warned Israel — in a message sent via the UN — that it would have to respond if Israel carries out a ground offensive in the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip.
“If the Israeli apartheid’s war crimes & genocide are not halted immediately, the situation could spiral out of control & ricochet far-reaching consequences — the responsibility of which lies with the UN, the Security Council & the states steering the Council toward a dead end,” Iran’s UN mission posted.
The United States has been working to keep Iran out of the ongoing war and broader international diplomacy has been focused on preventing it from spilling over — particularly into Lebanon — and sparking a regional war.
Lebanon’s Iran-backed, heavily armed Hezbollah group has clashed with Israel across the Lebanese border multiple times in the past week in the deadliest confrontations since they fought a month-long war in 2006.
UN Middle East peace envoy Tor Wennesland met with Iran’s Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian in Beirut on Saturday, the United Nations said.
Abdollahian then met with Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in Qatar, Al Jazeera TV reported.
When asked about the Axios report, UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric said: “All of (Wennesland’s) meetings have been to discuss diplomatic efforts to release hostages, secure humanitarian access and prevent a spillover of the conflict to the wider region. This includes his recent meetings in Lebanon.”
Israel’s mission to the United Nations declined to comment on the Axios report or the social media post by Iran.
Blinken raises Hamas with Saudi crown prince on Mideast crisis tour
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken called for pressure on Hamas during a meeting today with the de facto leader of Saudi Arabia, which has warming ties with Israel but has put normalisation on hold.
The top US diplomat met for nearly an hour in the early morning with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman at the royal’s farm residence in the Riyadh area, a US official said.
“Very productive,” Blinken said when asked about the meeting after returning to his hotel.
Blinken “highlighted the United States’ unwavering focus on halting terrorist attacks by Hamas, securing the release of all hostages and preventing the conflict from spreading,” State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said.
“The two affirmed their shared commitment to protecting civilians and to advancing stability across the Middle East and beyond,” Miller said.
Blinken has been touring the region after Hamas fighters infiltrated Israel from the blockaded Gaza Strip on October 7. The attack sparked a massive retaliatory campaign in Gaza that has killed more than 2,300 people.
Before the violence, the Saudi crown prince had spoken of progress in US-led diplomacy to normalise relations between Saudi Arabia and Israel.
Saudi Arabia has put the process on hold after the violence, and Blinken has said that disrupting Saudi-Israel normalisation efforts may have partly motivated the Hamas attack.
The State Department said Blinken and the crown prince also discussed Yemen, where an uneasy peace has been holding between the Saudi-backed government and Iranian-backed Huthi rebels.
They also addressed Sudan, on which the Saudis have been working with the United States to mediate between warring generals, with limited success.
Blinken will travel later on Sunday to Egypt, the sixth Arab country he will visit as he seeks to pressure Hamas and prevent the war from spreading.
Egypt is a key intermediary between Israel and Hamas, and US officials say Cairo worked on an arrangement to let US citizens leave the Gaza Strip but that Hamas impeded their movement on Saturday to the sole border crossing at Rafah.
Israeli minister seeks shutdown of Al Jazeera bureau
Israel’s communications minister said on Sunday he was seeking a possible closure of Al Jazeera’s local bureau, and accused the Qatari news station of pro-Hamas incitement and of exposing Israeli soldiers to potential attack from Gaza.
The proposal to shut down Al Jazeera had been vetted by Israeli security officials and was being vetted by legal experts, Shloma Karhi said, adding that he would bring it to the cabinet later in the day.
Al Jazeera and the government in Doha had no immediate comment.
“This is a station that incites, this is a station that films troops in assembly areas (outside Gaza) … that incites against the citizens of Israel — a propaganda mouthpiece,” Karhi told Israel’s Army Radio.
“It is unconscionable that Hamas spokespeople’s message goes through this station,” he said, adding: “I hope we will finish with this today.”
It was not clear if the latter statement referred to a cabinet discussion or implementation of a closure.
Biden calls
In a call on Saturday, US President Joe Biden told Netanyahu the United States was working with the United Nations, Egypt, Jordan and others in the region “to ensure innocent civilians have access to water, food, and medical care”.
Biden also spoke with Palestinian leader Mahmud Abbas and pledged “full support” to the Palestinian Authority in its efforts to bring humanitarian assistance to Palestinians, “particularly in Gaza,” according to the White House.
Several people were reportedly killed in an Israeli bombardment while heading south on Saturday, according to Hamas officials and witnesses. AFP could not immediately confirm the report.
International aid agencies, including the UN and Red Cross, plus several foreign diplomats are concerned about the feasibility of the evacuation plan. “We fear an unprecedented humanitarian catastrophe,” said Ivan Karakashian, of the Norwegian Refugee Council.
More than 423,000 Palestinians have already left their homes, and 5,540 homes have been destroyed, according to the United Nations.
Air strikes
Israel has fired thousands of missiles at northern Gaza. One air strike killed Ali Qadi, described as “a company commander of the Hamas ‘Nukhba’ commando force” involved in the unprecedented attack, the army said.
“Localised” raids have also taken place, as Israeli troops encircle the Gaza Strip, said army spokesman Jonathan Conricus.
“We will likely evolve into additional significant combat operations,” he added. “When we do so, remember how this started… all of this is Hamas-made.”
But National Security Adviser Tzachi Hanegbi admitted intelligence lapses that failed to spot the attack in advance.
Israel has vowed to destroy Hamas, which it has likened to the Islamic State group. But it maintains that ordinary Palestinians are not their target.
Palestinian prime minister Mohammad Shtayyeh accused Israel of “genocide” in Gaza, while clashes in the occupied West Bank have killed 53 Palestinians in the past week.
Angry protests condemning Israel and supporting the Palestinians in Gaza took place across the Arab world on Friday.
Western capitals, including London and Washington, also saw pro-Palestinian marches.
Northern threat
Israel faces the threat of a separate confrontation on its northern border with Lebanon and artillery exchanges have taken place with the Hezbollah group in recent days.
On Friday, a Reuters video journalist was killed and six other reporters, from AFP, Reuters and Al-Jazeera, were wounded in shelling that Lebanon blamed on Israeli forces.
Two Lebanese civilians were killed in Israeli shelling of a southern village on Saturday, its mayor told AFP. Hezbollah said one of its fighters was killed by Israeli fire.
Israeli military spokesman Daniel Hagari on Saturday night warned that the army “has very large forces in the north.” “Whoever reaches the fence to infiltrate Israel, will die,” he said in televised remarks.
A potential Israeli ground invasion has also increased fears for the safety of the 150 hostages, including foreigners, that Israel said Hamas seized.
Hamas has threatened to kill the hostages one by one for every unannounced Israeli air strike.
Israel’s army says it has contacted the families of 120 civilians being held so far. They called for medicines to be transferred to the captives as soon as possible.