Israel’s military has called on civilians in Gaza to evacuate the northern part of the territory and head south. The unprecedented evacuation of 1.1 million Palestinians comes ahead of a potential ground invasion by the Israeli military against the ruling Hamas militant group.
The evacuation order includes Gaza City, which is home to hundreds of thousands of Palestinians. The Israeli military dropped thousands of leaflets over the region Thursday, warning residents to flee. The U.N. warned that such a mass evacuation — with just a 24-hour deadline — would be calamitous.
Hamas, which staged a shocking and brutal attack on Israel nearly a week ago and has fired thousands of rockets since, dismissed the evacuation order as a ploy and called on people to stay in their homes, AP reports.
“Forget about food, forget about electricity, forget about fuel. The only concern now is just if you’ll make it, if you’re going to live,” Nebal Farsakh, a spokesperson for the Palestinian Red Crescent in Gaza City, told reporters.
Israel has amassed more than 300,000 reservists along its southern border — but has not confirmed whether it is planning a ground assault.
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U.S. support for Israel
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken traveled to Israel Thursday and U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin arrived Friday to affirm the United State’s support for Israel in the conflict. Speaking at an October 13 press conference, Austin said America’s support for Israel is “ironclad.”
He reiterated President Joe Biden’s warning to those who might seek to widen the conflict.
“For any country, for any group, or anyone thinking about trying to take advantage of this atrocity to try to widen the conflict or to spill more blood, we have just one word, don’t. The world is watching and so are we, and we aren’t going anywhere,” said Austin.
He added, “We will stand with Israel even as we stand with Ukraine.”
Just landed in 🇮🇱 Tel Aviv. Today, I’ll meet w/ Prime Minister @netanyahu, Minister @YoavGallant & other senior leaders to demonstrate that America’s support for Israel’s security is ironclad & talk to them face-to-face about their defense needs. We stand w/ the people of Israel. pic.twitter.com/O4y68Pckkw
— Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin III (@SecDef) October 13, 2023
Meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu earlier in the day, Secretary Austin said that, in many ways, the Hamas terror group is worse than ISIS.
“As you know, I was the guy that initially put the ISIS campaign together and I know a lot about ISIS, and this is worse than what I saw with ISIS,” the Times of Israel reported Austin as saying.
Hostages
The Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) have bombarded Gaza round-the-clock since a weekend attack in which Hamas fighters stormed into the country’s south and massacred hundreds in their homes and neighborhoods and at a music festival. Militants also took some 150 people hostage.
The White House confirms that 27 Americans were killed in Israel, and 14 U.S. nationals are still missing. Hamas said Friday that Israeli airstrikes killed 13 hostages in the past day. It said the dead included foreigners but did not give their nationalities.
Israeli military spokesperson Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari denied that, telling Al-Jazeera Arabic that “we have our own information and do not believe the lies of Hamas.”
Israel said Thursday it would allow no supplies into Gaza until Hamas frees the hostages.
The war has already claimed over 2,800 lives on both sides and sent tensions soaring across the region. Israel has traded fire in recent days with Lebanon’s Hezbollah militant group, sparking fears of a wider conflict.
