2023-10-14 16:30:00
The six-hour deadline Israel gave Palestinians to leave Gaza City has ended. This is what we know
Residents prepare to evacuate Gaza City on Saturday, October 14. Mohammed Sabre/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock
A six-hour deadline issued by the Israeli military ordering Palestinian civilians to complete the evacuation from Gaza City to the southern part of the strip ended at 4 pm local time (9 am ET) this Saturday.
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) told residents to head towards the Gaza Valley, in a message posted on X, formerly known as Twitter. It is unclear how widely the messages have been received on the ground given the current electricity and internet blackout.
The Israeli army’s order came a day following it ordered 1.1 million people living in northern Gaza to evacuate their homes.
The IDF has saturated the border with troops and military equipment amid a relentless assault on the territory, in retaliation for a large-scale incursion by the Hamas militant group on October 7.
Earlier this Saturday, IDF spokesman Lt. Col. Richard Hecht said Israel’s air, land and sea blockade once morest Gaza will continue for a seventh day.
“We are preparing for the next stages,” he added, but did not share information on if and when it might be a ground incursion.
What we know: Arab IDF spokesman Avishay Adraee said the military will allow safe movement on specific streets between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m. local time (3 – 9 a.m. ET). Residents were advised to use this window to travel south from Beit Hanoun to Khan Yunis. Additionally, residents of Al-Shate, Al-Rimal and West Al-Zaytoun areas are “permitted to move” along Daldul and Al-Sana streets towards Salah Al-Din and Al-Bahr streets, Adraee said.
Communications blackout: Israel launched a total blockade on the entry of food, fuel and water to Gaza on Monday. Human Rights Watch (HRW) on Monday criticized Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant’s call for a full siege as a form of “collective punishment” and a “war crime.” The shortage of electricity supply has seriously damaged communications along the strip. In an interview with CNN, IDF spokesman Maj. (Res.) Doron Spielman said the IDF is releasing leaflets regarding the new safe passages, given that most people in Gaza City do not have access to the Internet. now. However, CNN spoke to a school official from the United Nations Relief and Works Agency, a paramedic and a journalist on the ground who were unaware of this latest advisory.
Explosive rock evacuation route: CNN has geolocated and authenticated five videos from the scene of a large explosion along an evacuation route for civilians south of Gaza City. The videos show many bodies in the midst of a scene of great destruction. Some of those bodies are found on a flatbed trailer that appears to have been used to transport people out of Gaza City. They include at least several children. There are also numerous cars badly burned and damaged. It is unclear what caused the widespread devastation; The explosion occurred on Salah Al-Deen Street on Friday followingnoon. CNN has contacted the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) for comment on any airstrikes at the same location.
Evacuees die: Hamas’ media office told CNN that Israeli military airstrikes killed 70 and injured 200 evacuees in Gaza. The airstrikes hit evacuees in three locations: Salah Al-Din Street, Sheikh Ahmed Yassin Street and near Wadi Gaza, Hamas said. Previously, the Palestinian Ministry of Health in Gaza confirmed that “a large number” of dead and wounded, including women and children, arrived at the Al-Shifa’ hospital, located in the Al-Rimal neighborhood, following being bombed in its road from the north of Gaza to the south.
UN shelters forced to relocate: The UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) was forced to move its central operations from Gaza City to a location in southern Gaza following the Israeli evacuation order issued on Friday. The agency warned that “water is also now running out” at its new location, as thousands of displaced civilians continue to arrive from northern Gaza.
‘War crime’: On Friday, the Norwegian Refugee Council said Israel’s order for 1.1 million people living in northern Gaza to evacuate their homes – ahead of a possible ground invasion – “would amount to the war crime of forcible transfer.” “. The relocation order “must be reversed,” added the council’s secretary general, Jan Egeland. Egeland called on Western and Arab nations “that have influence over the Israeli political and military leadership” to “demand that the illegal and impossible relocation order be immediately canceled.”
1697301710
#deaths #breaking #news #news #Gaza
