Tel Aviv: Tanks and artillery of Israeli defence forces have started moving in southern Israel and maintaining positions near norther Gaza for a possible ground assault on Hamas. As Israel prepares for a possible ground invasion of Gaza, it urged more than 1 million civilians to move south within a day. This comes after Hamas militants launched a deadly attack that killed over 1,300 Israelis, mostly civilians. Israel’s Defence Minister Yoav Gallant said it was time for war and Israeli jets kept bombing Gaza in response. The Israeli military said it would target Gaza City heavily in the next few days and civilians should stay away until told otherwise. More than 1,500 Palestinians have died in the Israeli strikes.
The military said: “Civilians of Gaza City, evacuate south for your own safety and the safety of your families and distance yourself from Hamas terrorists who are using you as human shields.” “Hamas terrorists are hiding in Gaza City inside tunnels underneath houses and inside buildings populated with innocent Gazan civilians.”
हमास पर सबसे खतरनाक ग्राउंड ऑपरेशन की तैयारी में इज़रायल, देखिए वॉर जोन से EXCLUSIVE रिपोर्ट#Israel_under_attack #IsraelPalestineWar @malhotra_malika @thakur_shivangi @vishalpandeyk pic.twitter.com/QPYuDjP5Fb
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A Hamas official dismissed the evacuation warning as “fake propaganda” and told people not to believe it. The United Nations said such a mass displacement of people was impossible “without devastating humanitarian consequences.” Israel’s U.N. envoy Gilad Erdan called the U.N.’s reaction to Israel’s warning to the Gazans “shameful”. Israel has sworn to destroy the Hamas militant group that started the attacks on Saturday.
The Israeli military said it hit 750 military sites in north Gaza overnight, including Hamas tunnels, bases, homes of leaders and weapons depots. A ground invasion of the crowded and besieged Gaza Strip, where 2.3 million people live, is very risky, as Hamas has taken many hostages in the attack.
Humanitarian Crisis In Gaza As War Continues
The U.N. aid office (OCHA) said over 400,000 people had left their homes in Gaza and 23 aid workers had been killed since Israel began its strikes in retaliation for the Hamas attack. The Red Cross (ICRC) said hospitals in Gaza could lose power soon as fuel for generators ran out and the U.N. food agency (WFP) warned food and water were scarce.
“The human misery caused by this escalation is abhorrent, and I implore the sides to reduce the suffering of civilians,” ICRC regional chief Fabrizio Carboni said. The U.N. refugee agency for Palestinians (UNRWA) said it had moved its main operations centre and international staff to south Gaza and asked Israel to protect civilians in its shelters.
Israel Shows Evidence Of Hamas Atrocities To US And NATO
Israel’s government showed graphic images of children and civilians killed by Hamas in a weekend rampage in Israel to US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and NATO defence ministers to gain support for its response. Blinken said they showed a baby “riddled with bullets,” soldiers beheaded and young people burned in their cars. “It’s simply depravity in the worst imaginable way,” he said. “It’s really beyond anything that we can comprehend.”
Blinken, like others around the world, urged Israel to show restraint, but he also reaffirmed America’s support, saying: “We will always be there by your side.” On Friday he was set to meet Jordan’s King Abdullah and Mahmoud Abbas, leader of the Palestinian Authority in the West Bank under Israeli occupation.
Blinken, trying to prevent the war from spreading, also planned to visit key allies Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Egypt and the UAE – some with sway over Hamas, an Islamist group backed by Iran. The foreign minister of Turkey, which has offered to mediate, spoke with his counterpart from the UAE, a Turkish foreign ministry source said.