The exodus of Palestinians from north Gaza continued for the second consecutive day on Saturday with thousands of people scrambling to evacuate the region ahead of the start of Israel’s ground offensive, a week after Hamas militants invaded Israel and killed over 1,300 people. The evacuation order covered more than 11 lakh people. It is not clear how many have moved south.
“What we know is that hundreds of thousands of people have fled. And that 1 million people have been displaced in total in one week,” a UN official said. Evacuating under such a tight deadline is proving to be a challenge for many. “We need a number for drivers from (north) Gaza to the south, it is necessary #help,” read a social media plea for help.
The UN warned that many, especially pregnant women, the elderly, and sick people may not be able to evacuate before the start of the Israeli ground offensive. Tens of thousands of Israeli soldiers along with tanks and other military hardware are already on the Gaza border, waiting for orders to begin their ground offensive.
Two senior Hamas commanders, who were involved in Saturday’s attacks on Israel, were killed in overnight Israeli drone attacks on Gaza, The Times of Israel reported. Israeli strikes on Gaza have killed at least 2,215 people so far, including 724 children, the Gaza health ministry said. In a statement that was read as the US green light for Israel’s ground offensive, Secretary of State Antony Blinken said, “As Israel pursues its legitimate right, to defend its people and to try to ensure that this never happens again, it is vitally important that all of us look out for civilians.”
President Joe Biden in a statement said Hamas’ brutality on Israeli civilians makes Al Qaeda “look pure”. “Like I said from the beginning, the United States, make no mistake about it, stands with Israel,” he said. However, the supreme leader of Iran said Palestinians will emerge victorious in the current war. Ayatollah Ali Khamenei called the Hamas attack on Israel “a symbol of the power of Islam”.
U.S. CITIZENS LEAVE GAZA THROUGH RAFAH BORDER CROSSING
Israel and Egypt agreed to let US citizens leave the Gaza Strip through the Rafah crossing on Saturday, a US official said. About 500-600 US citizens are in the Gaza Strip. All three nations agreed to keep the sole crossing from Gaza to Egypt open from 12.00 pm to 5.00 pm (local time), said a US official
235 INDIANS ARRIVE IN DELHI ON SECOND EVACUATION FLIGHT
A second flight carrying 235 Indians from Israel landed at Delhi airport on Saturday morning under the government’s Operation Ajay to facilitate the return of Indians from Israel. More flights are planned with Air India and SpiceJet saying they will operate one flight each to Tel Aviv on Saturday
SAUDIS PAUSE TALKS ON NORMALISING TIES WITH ISRAEL
Saudi Arabia has suspended talks on potentially normalising ties with Israel, a source told AFP on Saturday, amid the war raging between Israel and Hamas. “Saudi Arabia has decided to pause discussion on possible normalisation and has informed US officials,” the source said