Hundreds of thousands of Palestinians have fled their homes in northern Gaza after Israel ordered them to move to the coastal strip’s south as Israeli forces extended the bombardment of the densely populated enclave.
Israel has ordered 1.1mn Palestinian civilians — half of Gaza’s population — to leave the northern part of the 40km impoverished strip ahead of an expected full-scale ground invasion against Hamas, the militant group that staged a cross-border attack last Saturday.
Israeli authorities said Hamas killed at least 1,300 Israelis, mainly civilians, in the attack in southern Israel. At least 1,900 people have been killed in Gaza, Palestinian health officials said, since Israel started its bombardment.
The evacuation order, which Israel said it gave to protect civilians as it targeted Hamas, has been condemned by the UN while the EU’s chief diplomat said on Saturday that Israel needed to respect international law while at war with Hamas.
Josep Borrell said that the evacuation order was impractical and would create an even worse humanitarian crisis in the territory.
“It’s utterly, utterly impossible to implement,” Borrell told reporters during a visit to Beijing on Saturday.
After meeting Qatar’s prime minister on Friday, Antony Blinken, US secretary of state, said Washington continues “to discuss with Israel the importance of taking every possible precaution to avoid harming civilians”.
“We recognise that many Palestinian families in Gaza are suffering through no fault of their own, and that Palestinian civilians have lost their lives,” said Blinken, while reiterating that Israel had a right to defend its citizens.
“We know the humanitarian situation is urgent. We’re actively engaged with partners, including Qatar, to get aid to those who need it.”
Blinken, who is on a tour of the region and held talks with Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday, said the US was engaging with UN agencies, the International Committee of the Red Cross and others to “address the acute humanitarian needs of people in Gaza”.
“We need to ensure, for example, that there are safe areas in Gaza for civilians. We’re working through the details on that,” Blinken said.
Qatar, a US ally which hosts Hamas’s political office, is also seeking to secure the release of dozens of hostages seized by Hamas during its attack, in the hope of de-escalating the conflict.
Ayman al-Safadi, Jordan’s foreign minister, said Israel’s order to Palestinians in northern Gaza to move to the territory’s south when war was “raging” was a “flagrant violation of international law, international humanitarian law, and the law of war”.
He said on Saturday that Israel’s offensive was causing a humanitarian catastrophe that represented the “collective punishment of more than 2mn Palestinians” and was “pushing the entire region towards the abyss”.
Israel said on Saturday that it would restrict firing on some indicated streets to allow movement.
Gaza’s border with Egypt, the strip’s only exit not controlled by Israel, remained largely closed, leaving no exit for the 2.3mn Palestinians hemmed inside the enclave since Israel imposed a 2007 blockade in response to Hamas’s violent takeover of the territory.
Israel has cut off food, fresh water and electricity to Gaza, after defence minister Yoav Gallant declared a “complete siege” this week. The UN said water supplies were drastically low, with people forced to drink brackish water, raising fears of disease.
IDF spokesman Jonathan Conricus said on Saturday that Israel intended to “enhance our military operations” in Gaza City, the largest city in the densely crowded enclave and a centre of Hamas’s political and military apparatus.
The IDF said on Friday that Israeli special forces had entered Gaza in the first known incursion since a 2014 war, hunting for hostages. They collected bodies of captives near the border fence, finding “evidence that would assist in the effort to locate hostages”, and fired at Hamas anti-tank missile crews attacking Israel.
Hamas has indicated it intended to trade the hostages for Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails. Israel has identified 120 hostages, the IDF said.
The Palestinian Centre for Human Rights said on Friday that hundreds of thousands of Gazans were fleeing south in cars, trucks and carts as fuel shortages and destroyed roads hampered their escape. Others were either choosing to stay or were unable to leave.
The displacement amounted to a second “Nakba” or catastrophe — the term used by Palestinians to describe their eviction from their homeland after the formation of the State of Israel in 1948 — Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas said on Friday.
Benjamin Netanyahu, prime minister of Israel, said on Friday that the war would “take time”.
“We’re striking our enemies with unprecedented power,” Netanyahu said in a rare Shabbat address. “This is only the beginning. Our enemies are only starting to pay the price.”
On Israel’s northern border with Lebanon, Iran-backed Hizbollah fighters fired anti-tank missiles at Israeli soldiers, sent two drones into Israel and fired surface to air missiles at Israeli aircraft, Conricus said on Saturday.
“The situation on the northern border remains very tense,” he said.
Additional reporting by Simeon Kerr
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