A “CRIME”
Hamas has said Palestinians rejected the evacuation request, yet thousands of Gazans were on the move in search of safety, carrying plastic bags of belongings, suitcases on their shoulders and children in their arms.
Some walked while others drove, with belongings strapped to their trucks, cars and carts pulled by donkeys.
More than 423,000 people have already fled their homes, according to the UN, which said the evacuation order could turn what is “already a tragedy into a calamitous situation”.
Gaza has been under a land, air and sea blockade since 2006 and Israel has vowed not to turn back on water, food and power supplies until all hostages are freed.
Arab League chief Ahmed Abul Gheit said Israel’s evacuation order is a “forced transfer” that constitutes “a crime”.
Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas said it will be “tantamount to a second Nakba” or “catastrophe”, referring to the 760,000 Palestinians who fled or were expelled from their homes during the 1948 war that accompanied Israel’s creation.
MILITARY BUILD-UP
Israel has called up 300,000 reservists while forces, tanks and heavy weapons have been moved to the southern desert area around Gaza, an AFP correspondent reported.
But any ground offensive is complicated by the presence of hostages, whom Hamas has threatened to kill if bombardments are carried out without warning.
Israeli soldiers have swept the southern towns and kibbutz farming communities since Saturday.
They said they found the bodies of 1,500 militants, as well as large numbers of civilians killed by Hamas fighters.
Yossi Landau has 33 years’ volunteer experience with Zaka, which recovers the bodies of people who suffered unnatural deaths.
He said that he found a dead woman with her stomach “ripped open, a baby was there, still connected with the cord, and stabbed” in Beeri, just outside Gaza.
They were among more than 100 people killed in Beeri, while around 270 were gunned down or burned in their cars at the nearby Supernova music festival.
Hamas has denied that its fighters killed infants.
HEZBOLLAH THREAT
Israel faces a potential second front in the north after the Iran-backed Hezbollah group in Lebanon said it was “fully prepared” to join Hamas in the war when the time was right.
There has been cross-border fire in recent days, sparking concern about regional stability and prompting the United States to send additional munitions and its largest aircraft carrier.
President Biden has warned other regional powers not to get involved.
Israel’s arch foe Iran has long financially and militarily backed Hamas and praised its attack, but insists it was not involved.
Source: CNA
