Israel was preparing on Saturday to launch a ground assault in the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip, after telling Palestinians living in the densely populated territory to flee south towards a closed border with Egypt.
The Israeli national security adviser meanwhile warned Lebanese militant group Hezbollah not to start a war on a second front, threatening the “destruction of Lebanon” if it did.
Israel has vowed to annihilate Hamas in retaliation for a rampage in which its fighters stormed through Israeli towns a week ago, shooting civilians and seizing scores of hostages in the worst attack on civilians in Israel’s history.
Some 1,300 people were killed in a brutal onslaught that shocked Israel, over the killing and horrifying mobile phone footage and reports from medical and emergency services of atrocities in the towns and kibbutzes that were overrun.
In response, Israeli jets and artillery have subjected Gaza to the most intense bombardment it has ever seen, putting the enclave, home to 2.3 million Palestinians, under total siege.
Gaza authorities say more than 2,200 people have been killed, a quarter of them children, and nearly 10,000 wounded. Rescue workers searched desperately for survivors of nighttime air raids.
Thousands of Palestinians fled the north of the Gaza Strip on Saturday from the path of the expected Israeli ground assault, while Israel pounded the area with more air strikes and said it kept two roads open to let people escape.
“IDF (Israel Defense Forces) soldiers and battalions are deployed across the country and are increasing operational readiness for the next stages of the war, with an emphasis on significant ground operations,” the military said in a statement.
It added this would include air, sea and land assaults and cover an “expanded arena of combat,” without elaborating.
US President Joe Biden called Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and, while reiterating “unwavering” support, discussed international coordination to ensure innocent civilians have access to water, food and medical care.
Biden also spoke with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, who stressed the urgent need to allow urgent humanitarian aid corridors in Gaza.
A million Gaza residents are reported to have fled their homes since Israel began its bombardment. Source: AAP / Hatem Moussa/AP
Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh said Palestinians would “remain in our land” even as one million Gaza residents were reported to have fled their homes since Israel began its bombardment.
The surprise Hamas attack on October 7 launched the region into a new crisis as furious Israeli leaders prepare to respond with crushing force.
On Friday, the Israeli military told the population of the northern half of the Gaza Strip, which includes the enclave’s biggest settlement Gaza City, to move south immediately. On Saturday, it said it would guarantee the safety of Palestinians fleeing on two main roads until 4pm local town. As the deadline passed, troops were massing around Gaza.
Hamas has told people not to leave and says roads out are unsafe. It says dozens of people were killed in strikes on cars and trucks carrying refugees on Friday, which Reuters could not independently verify. Israel says Hamas is preventing people from leaving in order to use them as human shields, which Hamas denies.
In one Gaza City neighbourhood that Israel ordered evacuated, bombs fired from warplanes hit several houses during the night, residents said.
“We lived a night of horror. Israel punished us for not wanting to leave our home. Is there brutality worse than this?” a father of three said by telephone from a hospital where he had taken shelter, declining to give his name for fear of reprisals.
“I prefer to die and not leave, but I can’t see my wife and children die before my eyes.”
The Palestinian Red Crescent said it had received an Israeli order to evacuate the hospital by 4pm local time, but would not do so because it had a humanitarian duty to keep providing services to the sick and wounded.
The significant escalation is the latest boiling point in a long-standing conflict between Israel and Hamas.
Hamas is a Palestinian military and political group, gaining power in the Gaza Strip since winning legislative elections there in 2006.
Hamas’ stated aim is to establish a Palestinian state, while refusing to recognise Israel’s right to exist.
Hamas, in its entirety, is designated as a terrorist organisation by countries including Australia, Canada, the UK and the US.
Some countries list only its military wing as a terrorist group.
