Israeli military reports ‘significant movement’ after telling Gaza residents to flee as conflict enters Week 2

The Israeli military said Saturday it had seen a “significant movement” south of Palestinian civilians, a day after ordering Gaza City residents to flee, as Israel’s prime minister promised further retaliation for Hamas’s attack last week.

Israel renewed calls on social media and in leaflets dropped from the air for some one million residents, nearly half the population in the Gaza Strip, to move south, while Hamas urged people to stay in their homes.

Israel has since put the Hamas-run Gaza Strip, home to 2.3 million Palestinians, under a total siege and bombarded it with unprecedented airstrikes.

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The military said its troops conducted temporary raids into Gaza to battle militants and hunted for traces of some 150 people — including men, women and children — who were abducted during Hamas’s shocking Oct. 7 assault on southern Israel.

On Friday, Israel gave Palestinians 24 hours notice, until 4 p.m. local time (9 a.m. ET) on Saturday to evacuate from the enclave’s north before an expected ground offensive.

The United Nations called on Israel to reverse the unprecedented directive. The UN humanitarian office OCHA estimated later Friday that tens of thousands in Gaza had fled south. Prior to the evacuation order, more than 400,000 Palestinians had been internally displaced due to the hostilities, the agency said on its website.

The Hamas assault killed more than 1,300 Israelis, most of them civilians, and roughly 1,500 Hamas militants were killed during the fighting, the Israeli government said.

The Palestinian Health Ministry said in a report Saturday that at least 2,269 Palestinians have been killed and 9,814 others wounded due to Israeli attacks in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. The death toll included 2,215 from Gaza with 8,714 injured. The other 54 dead and 1,100 wounded were from the West Bank, the report added.

In the wake of Israel’s evacuation order, families in Gaza faced agonizing dilemmas in deciding whether to leave or stay. Israeli strikes have levelled entire city blocks, and Gaza has been sealed off from food, water and medical supplies — all under a near-total power blackout.

U.S. President Joe Biden said consultations were underway with regional governments on the humanitarian crisis in Gaza as trapped Palestinians endured a power blackout and shortages of food and water amid fierce Israeli bombing.

Global Affairs Canada said in a statement on Friday that “the protection of civilians is paramount.”

Beginning Thursday, the Canadian government organized evacuation flights from Ben Gurion airport near Tel Aviv, after most international airlines — including Air Canada — stopped flying out of Israel.

“We call on all parties to spare the civilian population from harm, and to respect their obligations under international humanitarian law in all circumstances,” the statement read.

The Israeli military said on Friday tank-backed troops had mounted raids to hit Palestinian rocket crews and gather information on the location of hostages, the first official account of ground troops in Gaza since the crisis began.

An Israeli drone killed a number of militants who tried to infiltrate Israel from Lebanon, it added on Saturday.

“We are striking our enemies with unprecedented might,” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a rare

statement televised after the Jewish Sabbath began on Friday. “I emphasize that this is only the beginning.”

Moving severely ill patients out of northern Gaza will be ‘death sentence,’ says WHO

Asking health workers to move severely ill people out of northern Gaza is ‘beyond cruel’ and amounts to a ‘death sentence,’ says WHO spokesperson Tarik Jasarevic.

Despite the Israeli order to evacuate, many people in Gaza said they would stay.

“Death is better than leaving,” said Mohammad, 20, outside a building smashed by an Israeli airstrike near the centre of Gaza.

Mosques broadcast the message, “Hold on to your homes. Hold on to your land.”

The UN and other organizations warned of a disaster if so many people were forced to flee, calling for the siege to be lifted to let in aid.

“We need immediate humanitarian access throughout Gaza, so that we can get fuel, food and water to everyone in need. Even wars have rules,” UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres said on Friday.

Biden, in a speech at a Philadelphia shipping terminal, said tackling the humanitarian crisis was a top priority. U.S. teams in the region were working with Israel, Egypt, Jordan, other Arab governments and the United Nations, he said.

“The overwhelming majority of Palestinians had nothing to do with Hamas and Hamas’s appalling attacks,” Biden said. “And they’re suffering as a result as well.”

UN spokesperson Stephane Dujarric said it was impossible for people in Gaza to heed Israel’s order to move south

“devastating humanitarian consequences,” prompting a rebuke from Israel that the UN should condemn Hamas and support Israel’s right to self-defence.

“The noose around the civilian population in Gaza is tightening,” UN aid chief Martin Griffiths wrote on social media. “How are 1.1 million people supposed to move across a densely populated war zone in less than 24 hours?”

Most of those who live in Gaza are descendants of such refugees.

Gaza is one of the most crowded places on Earth, and for now there is no way out. In addition to Israel’s blockade, Egypt has resisted calls to open its border with Gaza.

Israel-Hamas war: Mounting devastation and anxiety

Aid groups warn of disaster in Gaza as relentless and ferocious airstrikes continue. In Israel, more scenes of devastation emerge, and journalists are brought to the site of the Supernova music festival, where at least 260 people were killed.

U.S. Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin met Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant on Friday. Austin said military aid was flowing into Israel but the time was one for resolve, not revenge.

“The path will be long, but ultimately I promise you we will win,” Gallant said.

Blinken met King Abdullah in Jordan as well as Abbas, whose Palestinian Authority exercises limited self-rule in the

Israeli-occupied West Bank but lost control of Gaza to Hamas in 2007. Blinken later flew to Qatar, a U.S. ally with influence among Islamist groups.

In the West Bank, demonstrators supporting Gaza fought gun battles with Israeli security forces. Palestinian officials said 16 people were shot dead.

There have also been fears of hostilities spreading, including to Israel’s northern border with Lebanon, where clashes this week have already been the deadliest since 2006.Reuters video journalist Issam Abdallah was killed on Friday while working in southern Lebanon by missiles fired from the direction of Israel, according to another Reuters videographer on the scene. Six other journalists were injured.

Lebanese Prime Minister Najob Mikati and a Hezbollah lawmaker blamed the incident on Israel. Israel’s UN envoy said

it would investigate what had happened in the area.

“We always try to mitigate and avoid civilian casualties,” said the envoy, Gilad Erdan. “Obviously, we would never want to hit or kill or shoot any journalist that is doing its job.”

On Saturday, Iran’s foreign minister called on Israel to stop its attacks on Gaza, warning the war might expand to other parts of the Middle East if Hezbollah joins the battle, and that would make Israel suffer “a huge earthquake.”

Hossein Amirabdollahian told reporters in Beirut that Lebanon’s Hezbollah group has taken all the scenarios of a war into consideration and Israel should stop its attacks on Gaza as soon as possible.

Israel estimates Hezbollah has some 150,000 rockets and missiles, including precision-guided missiles that can hit anywhere in Israel. The group, which has thousands of fighters who participated in Syria’s 12-year conflict, also has different types of military drones.

Hezbollah fighters have been on full alert along Lebanon’s borders with Israel following last Saturday’s attack by Hamas.

 

With files from Reuters and CBC News