A day after instructing inhabitants of Gaza City to evacuate to the south of the Gaza Strip, the Israeli military reported on 14 October that it had observed “significant movement” of Palestinian people in the south as Israel’s prime minister warned additional reprisal for Hamas’ assault last week.
As Palestinians confined in Gaza dealt with a power outage, a scarcity of food and water and ferocious Israeli bombing, United States President Joe Biden stressed that discussions with regional governments about the humanitarian catastrophe were ongoing.
Israel has pledged to completely destroy Hamas in retaliation for the onslaught on 7 October in which its assailants slaughtered at least 1,300 Israelis, primarily civilians, and took several captives. Israel has presently completely besieged and pounded the 2.3 million-person-strong Gaza Strip which is governed by Hamas with unparalleled airstrikes. It has led to the deaths of 1,900 individuals, according to authorities in Gaza.
Israel issued a warning to over a million northern people on 13 October asking them to leave the region within 24 hours, however, the deadline expired at 5 a.m. (0200 GMT). In an early video briefing, Israeli military spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Jonathan Conricus informed, “We have seen a significant movement of Palestinian civilians towards the south.” The time limit frame was not mentioned by him and he also declined to address questions.
He further added, “Around the Gaza Strip, Israeli reserve soldiers in formation are getting ready for the next stage of operations. They are all around the Gaza Strip, in the south, in the centre and in the north, and they are preparing themselves for whatever target they get, whatever task. The end state of this war is that we will dismantle Hamas and its military capability and fundamentally change the situation so that Hamas never again has the ability to inflict any damage on Israeli civilians or soldiers.”
Hamas urged locals to remain and threatened to fight to the death. The first formal mention of ground forces in Gaza since the crisis began, an Israeli military spokesperson said on 13 October that raids with tank support had been launched to target Palestinian rocket crews and acquire intelligence on the whereabouts of hostages.
“We are striking our enemies with unprecedented might. I emphasise that this is only the beginning,” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu highlighted in a rare statement transmitted on television after the Jewish Sabbath began on 13 October.
According to the United Nations, more than 400,000 Palestinians had already been internally displaced because of hostilities before the Israeli order and tens of thousands of Palestinians are believed to have moved from northern Gaza after the decree. However, many more declared they would not leave. “Death is better than leaving,” exclaimed 20-year-old Mohammad, outside a structure that had been destroyed by an Israeli airstrike close to the centre of Gaza.
“Hold on to your homes. Hold on to your land,” broadcast mosques in their message. As a result of the forced displacement of so many people, the United Nations and other organisations have warned of disaster and advocated the lifting of the siege to allow relief to enter. U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres voiced, “We need immediate humanitarian access throughout Gaza, so that we can get fuel, food and water to everyone in need. Even wars have rules,” on 13 October.
Speaking at a Philadelphia cargo terminal, Joe Biden remarked that solving the humanitarian problem was of the utmost importance. He revealed that American teams in the area were cooperating with Israel, Egypt, Jordan and other Arab nations, along with the U.N. “The overwhelming majority of Palestinians had nothing to do with Hamas and Hamas’ appalling attacks. And they’re suffering as a result as well.”
Israel reprimanded the U.N. for failing to criticize Hamas and support Israel’s right to self-defence after U.N. spokesperson Stephane Dujarric argued that following the country’s command to leave Gaza would have “devastating humanitarian consequences.”
“The noose around the civilian population in Gaza is tightening. How are 1.1 million people supposed to move across a densely populated war zone in less than 24 hours,” questioned Martin Griffiths, the head of the United Nations relief efforts on social media.
The forcible eviction would be a replay of the 1948 expulsion of hundreds of thousands of Palestinians from what is now Israel, based on Mahmoud Abbas, the president of the Palestinian Authority, a rival organisation to Hamas. The majority of Gazans are descendants of these exiles.
There is currently no route out of Gaza which is one of the most populated areas on earth. Egypt has opposed requests to open its border with the region in addition to Israel’s blockade. Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant and U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin met on 13 October. The latter highlighted that although the Jewish country was receiving military assistance, it was time for resolution rather than retaliation. The former commented, “The path will be long, but ultimately I promise you we will win.”
On 13 October, United States Secretary of State Anthony Blinken met with King Abdullah and Mahmoud Abbas in Jordan. The Palestinian Authority, which he leads, has ceded control of Gaza to Hamas since 2007 but still retains some measure of autonomy in the Israeli-occupied West Bank. Later, the US official took a plane to Qatar, a U.S. ally with clout among Islamist groups.
Israeli security forces and pro-Gaza activists engaged in gunfights in the West Bank and authorities in Palestine reported 16 shooting deaths. Furthermore, there have been concerns about hostilities extending, particularly to Israel’s northern border with Lebanon where this week’s skirmishes have already claimed the most lives since 2006.
According to a second Reuters videographer on the scene, Israeli rockets killed Reuters video journalist Issam Abdallah on 13 October while he was filming in southern Lebanon. Another six journalists suffered injuries. The occurrence was linked to Israel by the Hezbollah congressman and the prime minister of Lebanon, Najob Mikati. Israel’s representative to the U.N. announced that it would look into what had transpired there. Envoy Gilad Erdan observed, “We always try to mitigate and avoid civilian casualties. Obviously, we would never want to hit or kill or shoot any journalist that is doing its job.”
