The US will today fly its first #repatriation flight to bring citizens home from #Israel
National Security spox John Kirby said they would also be looking into other ways to help citizens leave, by land or sea.
Argentina, France, South Korea, Australia and Canada - among others - have been evacuating their citizens throughout the week.
Japan has also announced it will send a chartered flight to Israel to evacuate Japanese citizens at the weekend
A #Hamas official has urged residents of the north of #Gaza to ignore it #Israel 's evacuation order
The militant group has long been criticised by the international community for using civilians as human shields - putting innocent people in danger to protect their fighters.
Hamas took power of the Gaza strip after it won the legislative elections in 2006, before reinforcing its power in Gaza the following year by ousting the rival Fatah movement of President Mahmoud Abbas.
'It is impossible for 1.1 million people to leave their homes within 24 hours', says #BBC corr Tom Bateman in Jerusalem.
'It would involve 40,000 people per hour. On the ground convoys of the International Red Cross and United Nations humanitarian agency staff have been spotted travelling south from #Gaza City towards the southern part of territory, which may be in preparation of possible evacuation operation.
But it would bring chaos to try to carry it out on this scale within 24 hrs'
GRAPHIC CONTENT WARNING
'This is my community. I've seen things I can never unsee'
#Gaza City's main hospital, Al Shifa, is at breaking point, with hundreds of seriously injured people filling the hallways and bodies lying in corridors and outside, as staff work under immense pressure.
Inside, BBC Arabic's reporter Adnan Elbursh and his team discover their own neighbours, relatives and friends are among those injured and killed.
V forward:
Stanford instructor removed for targeting Jewish students as ‘colonizers’ after Hamas attack on Israel
https://forward.com/news/564587/stanford-university-jewish-students-instructor-hamas/
At least 13 #Israeli and foreign #hostages held in five locations in the #Gaza Strip have been killed in Israeli air strikes in the past 24 hours, Hamas’s armed wing, the Izzedine al-Qassam Brigades said in a statement.
Hamas took about 150 people captive in its attack on 7 October. It has threatened to kill hostages if civilians homes are bombed by Israel without warning.
As the reports came in, UK Def Sec Grant Shapps told ITV he would treat the claims with "caution" but "deep concern".
From #Ukraine president #Zelensky 's latest stmt:
"We can clearly see that our enemy, #Russia, is interested in the worst-case scenario in the Middle East.
I am grateful to everyone who works to keep the Middle East from further exploding, but also to hold terrorists accountable for everything they have done against Israel—against children and women, against ordinary people.
We also remember about the citizens of other countries who have been detained or killed by terrorists." (Cont)
"There are also Ukrainians among the dead. My condolences go out to everyone who has lost a loved one.
It is critically important—for everyone around the world including those who do not yet comprehend—that terrorists must always be held accountable for all the evil they have caused."
#IDF entered #Gaza to search for hostages - #Israeli Airforce
The Israeli Airforce acct posted on X, formerly known as Twitter, that over the last 24 hours the Israeli Army carried out "local raids" in the territory of the Gaza Strip. The post says:
"Infantry and armored forces searched and gathered in the area for findings that may help in the effort to locate the missing and thwarted terrorist infrastructure and terrorist cells found in the area."
The #ICRC has condemned the #hostage taking during the attacks on #Israel by #Hamas , saying "our hearts go out" to those who have lost family members or are worried about loved ones.
"We reiterate our call for their immediate release and stand ready to conduct humanitarian visits," the #RedCross said.
Their quote regarding the evacuation orders:
"The instructions issued by the Israeli authorities for the population of #Gaza City are not compatible with international humanitarian law"
Reuters says its videographer has been killed while working in southern #Lebanon:
"We are deeply saddened to learn that our videographer, Issam Abdallah, has been killed," the statement said.
Reuters journalists Thaer Al-Sudani and Maher Nazeh also sustained injuries and are seeking medical care, according to the statement.
#JournalismIsNorACrime
The #Israeli military says it has struck a "terrorist target" in southern #Lebanon belonging to #Hezbollah
It says it acted after it intercepted two "unidentified targets" above #Haifa, close to the #Lebanese border, and after an unidentified UAV (drone) crossed into northern Israel.
In recent days Israeli forces have exchanged rocket fire with Hezbollah.
Like #Hamas, Hezbollah too has been designated a terrorist organisation by the UK, US and other countries.
Blinken has arrived in #Saudi Arabia , his fifth stop on a tour of Arab countries as he tries to prevent the conflict between #Hamas and #Israel from spreading to the region.
Blinken wants Arab states to clearly condemn Hamas and to also show restraint over Israel’s response.
But as he arrived in Riyadh, the Saudi foreign ministry issued its strongest criticism of Israel yet, condemning what it called the targeting of defenceless civilians.
#Gaza
It has just passed 5 AM in the Middle East, a quick recap of what is going on in #Gaza :
#Palestinian civilians have been fleeing northern Gaza by car, on the back of trucks and on foot after an #Israeli warning - about 1.1 million people living in northern areas have been told to leave ahead of an expected ground offensive by Israeli forces.
The UN described the order as horrendous, while the US urged #Israel to take every precaution to avoid killing civilians
And if you missed the last week in news:
#Hamas fighters kidnapped at least 150 people and took them into #Gaza during attacks on #Israel a week ago which killed at least 1,300 people
1,900 people have been killed in Gaza since Israel launched retaliatory air strikes, authorities say
A total blockade is being enforced on Gaza, with fuel, food and water running out
V NBC:
'Documents exclusively obtained by NBC News show that #Hamas created detailed plans to target schools and a youth center in the #Israeli kibbutz of Kfar Sa'ad, to "kill as many people as possible," seize #hostages and move them into the #Gaza Strip.
The attack plans, which are labeled "top secret" in Arabic, appear to be orders for two highly trained Hamas units to surround and infiltrate villages and target places where civilians, incl children, gather'
Documents exclusively obtained by NBC News show that Hamas created detailed plans to target elementary schools and a youth center in the Israeli kibbutz of Kfar Sa'ad, to "kill as many people as possible."
V CNN:
'The journalists were wearing body armor clearly labeled as “press” when Israeli forces struck Lebanon on Friday; the sudden blast killed one Reuters journalist and wounded at least six others, according to official statements and videos analyzed by CNN.
Journalists from international news organizations Al Jazeera, Agence France Presse, and Reuters were among the victims, according to statements from their outlets.'
https://edition.cnn.com/2023/10/13/world/israel-lebanon-journalists-attacked-intl/index.html
Thanks for all your likes, reposts and questions, the civility of the debate in most cases, and of course for reading plenty of #BBC material on #Israel , #Gaza , #Hamas
Meanwhile someone thought defacing our New Broadcasting House would be a better idea - picture taken by Victoria Derbyshire this morning:
It has just passed 7.30 AM in the Midde East - you might have missed some of the following:
" #IDF is gearing up for a comprehensive offensive" with the help of hundreds of thousands of reserve personnel, its stmt says.
No timings were given. A ground offensive into the #Gaza Strip has been expected and #Israel has asked residents in the north to flee.
It says they plan an offensive "involving air, sea, and land" forces.
The #European Commission said it will immediately triple #humanitarian assistance for #Gaza
That's an extra 50m euros - for a total of 75m euros. The #EU is already the largest foreign donor to the #Palestinian people.
"It is essential that safe and unrestricted access for humanitarian aid is ensured", a stmt urged
The conditions in #Gaza are "fast becoming untenable," #UN aid chief Martin Griffiths said. "I fear that the worst is yet to come Humanity is failing."
So far at least five planes carrying humanitarian relief have arrived in Egypt's Sinai, Red Cross #ICRC officials said.
The #WHO said a plane carrying trauma medicines and health supplies had also landed.
Al Arish airport on #Sinai is about 45 km from the Gaza border, but the #Rafah crossing with #Egypt remains closed.
#Israel #hamas
It's been 8 days since #Hamas launched its attack against #Israel and stories of extraordinary courage, and horror, continue to emerge:
Neta Portal was shot six times when Hamas gunmen stormed the #KfarAza kibbutz in southern Israel.
She had jumped from a window to escape a grenade, only for Hamas militants to open fire.
You can find out here what happened afterwards:
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-67089114
The #UN relief agency operating in #Gaza has said its shelters in the northern part of the territory "are not safe anymore" - calling it "unprecedented".
"This war should be no exception," UNRWA said in a statement. "Protection of civilians and civilian infrastructure including UN buildings applies to this conflict too."
"Wars have rules," #UNRWA said. "Civilians, hospitals, schools, clinics and UN premises cannot be a target."
#Israel #hamas
One of the #Palestinian families that reached the Maghazi camp in southern #Gaza told the #BBC "the last three days had been "unspeakable".
"We are hostages here for both sides, for #Israel and for #Hamas ."
"If Israel are not able to find Hamas, they must not bomb the civilians and the infrastructure. We are not animals, we are not in a zoo, we are human beings."
#WHO stmt says the lives of those in intensive care or who rely on life support; newborns in incubators, and many others hang in the balance:
"Forcing more than 2,000 patients to relocate to southern #Gaza could be tantamount to a death sentence"
health workers have overwhelmingly chosen to stay behind, rather than risk moving their critically ill patients, a choice it calls "impossible".
It calls for #Israel "to reverse #evacuation orders to hospitals in northern Gaza"
There's been a protest outside #Israel’s def min by families demanding more information about those missing and the #hostages held by #Hamas.
Some there believed the area around #Gaza was left unprotected because troops had been deployed to the occupied West Bank by the hardline, ultranationalist govt of Netanyahu.
"The #IDF is supposed to defend us, not to secure some crazy adventure of settlers which only harm the security of Israel and the security of its soldiers" a participant said
Mark Schwarz, a ret. US lieutenant general has told the #BBC an #Israeli ground invasion into #Gaza is unlikely to be imminent because of the degree of preparation required.
The former US security co-ordinator for #Israel and the #Palestinian Authority, says the Israeli military's final preparations are probably "a few days away, if not hours away".
The logistical sustainment of such an operation - such as the number of casualties the Israeli military is likely to sustain - is hard to predict
#Russia has asked the United Nations' Security Council #UNSC to vote on Monday on a draft resolution on the #Israel - #Hamas conflict that calls for a humanitarian ceasefire and condemns violence against civilians and "all acts of terrorism", Reuters news agency said
The draft resolution calls for an immediate, durable and fully respected #humanitarian #ceasefire, the secure release of all #hostages, and the distribution of humanitarian assistance and the safe evacuation of civilians in need
In #Egypt, an aid convoy has been waiting for hours to enter #Gaza through the #Rafah crossing.
In recent days the checkpoint has been closed due to #Israel's aerial bombardment of the Gaza Strip which has reportedly damaged the #Palestinian side of the crossing.
This has prevented people from leaving or entering Gaza through the checkpoint. It also means aid has been held up at the border, and aid agencies have urged authorities to let their convoys through.
It is just over a week since #Hamas gunmen infiltrated #Israel to attack both civilians and soldiers. More than 1,300 people have been killed in Israel.
Israel has been carrying out retaliatory air strikes in #Gaza and a ground offensive is expected.
In total, 2,329 #Palestinians have been killed and 9,714 have been injured, according to the health ministry.
Thousands of #Palestinians are continuing to flee northern #Gaza ahead of #Israel's expected ground offensive.
In its latest update the #IDF says civilians still in northern Gaza must head south between 10:00 and 13:00 local time.
They should use a single route running from Beit Hanoun towards Khan Yunis, it says, adding that it will not target the route during those hours.
Initially, a 24-hour evacuation window was set by Israel for people to flee the area.
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