Ahead of the possible ground offensive, Israel is calling on more than a million residents of the Gaza Strip to flee. Aid organizations were horrified. There were also new fights on the border with Lebanon.
The Israeli military has ordered more than a million Palestinians to evacuate ahead of an expected ground offensive in the Gaza Strip in response to Hamas atrocities. “The military is calling on all Gaza City civilians to leave their homes and head south for their own safety and protection,” army spokesman Jonathan Conricus said on Friday. Eyewitnesses reported panic among the population. Aid organizations reacted outraged.
The UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) warned that the coastal strip is becoming a “hellhole and is on the verge of collapse” amid massive Israeli airstrikes and the lockdown. There were also violent clashes between Palestinians and Israeli security forces in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, leaving ten dead and dozens injured.
UN chief calls for humanitarian access to Gaza
UN Secretary-General António Guterres called for immediate access to the Gaza Strip for humanitarian aid. “Even wars have rules,” Guterres told reporters in New York before attending a closed-door UN Security Council meeting on the conflict. “We need immediate humanitarian access to all of Gaza so that we can provide fuel, food and water to those in need,” he demanded, referring to the Israeli blockade of the coastal enclave.
Guterres also spoke out explicitly against the Israeli military’s call for a mass evacuation of the northern Gaza Strip. Such a move, which would affect about 1.1 million people in the densely populated Palestinian territory, would be “extremely dangerous – and in some cases simply not possible,” Guterres said. He also called for the immediate release of all hostages kidnapped to Gaza by the Islamist Hamas.
Journalist killed in clashes on the Lebanese border
There were also fighting on the Israeli-Lebanese border. A Reuters journalist was killed there by shelling. “It is with great sadness that we learned that our cameraman Issam Abdallah was killed,” a Reuters spokeswoman in London said in response to a query. Two other journalists from the news agency were injured. At least four other media workers were injured in the incident. The Arabic broadcaster Al-Jazeera confirmed that a reporter and a cameraman from the channel were among the injured.
There had previously been an exchange of fire between Israel and the Lebanese Hezbollah militia in the area. It was not immediately clear who fired the shots first. Israel’s army confirmed an attack with tank and artillery fire on Lebanese territory. There had previously been attacks from Lebanon on Israeli positions, it was said. Israeli soldiers targeted Hezbollah posts. The Shiite organization also confirmed shelling of several targets in neighboring Israel.
Deadline for evacuation, more air strikes
The Israeli military called on Gaza residents on Friday to leave their residential areas and move further south by 8:00 p.m. local time (7:00 p.m. CEST). An army spokesman wrote in Arabic on X that they would not attack an escape route marked on a map until then. The residents of Beit Hanun should go to Khan Yunis, the statement said. Further instructions will be published.
According to the Israeli army, more than 6,000 rockets have been fired from the Gaza Strip since the massacre by Hamas terrorists in the Israeli border area on Saturday. Israel has suffered more than 1,300 deaths and more than 3,000 injuries since Hamas’ major attack. Hundreds of Hamas terrorists entered Israel last Saturday and carried out a massacre in border towns and at a music festival.
Israeli soldiers are making isolated advances into the Gaza Strip
The Israeli army says it has made several limited advances into the Gaza Strip in the past 24 hours. Army spokesman Daniel Hagari wrote on There were also efforts to find missing people. Ground and tank troops searched for clues and “took out terrorist cells.”
The Israeli Air Force also continued its massive attacks. Dozens of fighter jets attacked 750 military targets, the military said on Friday morning. The targets included underground tunnels, military facilities, residences of high-ranking terrorists that were used as military command centers and weapons depots.
WHO: For seriously ill people, evacuation is tantamount to a death sentence
A spokesman for the World Health Organization (WHO) pointed out in Geneva that the transfer of seriously ill and seriously injured patients from the northern Gaza Strip was impossible. “Transporting such people is tantamount to a death sentence,” said spokesman Tarik Jasarevic.
The number of Palestinians killed in Israeli attacks in the Gaza Strip has risen to at least 1,900. This was announced by the Ministry of Health there. The victims included 614 children and young people. At least 7,696 other people were injured. The hospitals that are running out of power are overcrowded. Medicines, drinking water and food are becoming scarce due to Israel’s lockdown.
On television, people could be seen traveling south along Gaza’s only main road in cars, trucks, donkey carts and on foot. The United Nations called on Israel to revoke the order to evacuate. A UN spokesman said there was a threat of a “catastrophic situation”. It was completely unclear where the many people in the south of the Gaza Strip would stay and receive care.
Hamas claims 13 hostages killed in Israeli airstrikes
According to Hamas’s military wing in the Gaza Strip, 13 of the approximately 150 hostages abducted from Israel were killed in Israeli air strikes. The Al-Kassam Brigades claimed in a statement that these included foreign nationals. This information could not be independently verified. The Israeli army wanted to examine the report.
Baerbock: “We are all Israelis”
Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock assured Israel of full German solidarity during a visit. “In these terrible days we stand by your side and feel with you. In these days we are all Israelis,” said the Green politician at a meeting with her Israeli colleague Eli Cohen in Netivot in southern Israel near the Gaza border. stripes. “Israel’s security is a reason of state for us.” In the afternoon, Baerbock and her delegation in Tel Aviv had to temporarily go to a shelter because of a rocket alarm.
US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin assured Israel of further military support. “We have increased US combat aircraft squadrons in the Middle East, and the US Department of Defense is fully prepared to deploy additional assets if necessary,” he said at a news conference with Israel’s Defense Minister Joav Galant.
There were demonstrations for the rights of the Palestinians in predominantly Islamic countries such as Egypt, Jordan, Iraq, Pakistan and Yemen. At nationwide rallies, demonstrators in Pakistan waved Palestinian flags and chanted protest slogans against Israel, television images showed.
Source: Stern
I have been working in the news industry for over 6 years, first as a reporter and now as an editor. I have covered politics extensively, and my work has appeared in major newspapers and online news outlets around the world. In addition to my writing, I also contribute regularly to 24 Hours World.
