As Israel's 24-hour warning entered the early hours of Saturday, Palestinians scrambled to flee northern Gaza ahead of an expected ground invasion. In the last 24 hours, at least 324 Palestinians have been killed, according to a Gaza health ministry report. The dead included at least 126 children and 88 women.
The United Nations called on Israel to reverse its unprecedented directive. But Israel's military said it planned to target underground Hamas hideouts around Gaza City. The deadline passed today and the military said it had seen a "significant movement" south of Palestinian civilians. "We have seen a significant movement of Palestinian civilians towards the south," Israeli military spokesperson Lieutenant Colonel Jonathan Conricus told a video briefing early on Saturday.
Here are the latest updates on the war:
Israel prepared for 'coordinated' offensive in Gaza Strip
Israeli military announces it is prepared for “coordinated” air, ground and naval offensive in Gaza Strip, reports AP. Head of Gaza's largest hospital says 35,000 people are sheltered inside the hospital ahead of expected Israeli ground operation.
Blast hits Gaza evacuation route, kills women, children
A blast struck a convoy on an evacuation route in Gaza, killing a number of people including several children and women, ahead of an expected Israeli ground offensive. According to a report by BBC, at least 12 people, including young children, possibly as young as two to five-years-old, were killed in the blast.
More than 320 Palestinians killed in 24 hours
According to health officials in Palestine, more than 320 Palestinians have been killed in past 24 hours, including many women and children, who were killed in Israeli air raids on convoys fleeing Gaza City as Israel's deadline loomed. In the week-old war, the Gaza Health Ministry said Friday that roughly 1,900 people have been killed in the territory. The Hamas assault last Saturday killed more than 1,300 Israelis, most of whom were civilians, and roughly 1,500 Hamas militants were killed during the fighting, the Israeli government said.
Israel says it killed Hamas commander
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) claimed that a senior member of the Hamas terror group was killed in an overnight airstrike in the Gaza Strip, as per a report by Times of Israel. As per media reports, the airstrike killed the head of Hamas’s aerial array, Murad Abu Murad. Abu Murad “took a big part in directing terrorists during the massacre” last weekend.
Gaza running out of drinking water: United Nations
According to an official statement from United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East, clean water is running out in the Gaza Strip, after its water plant and public water networks stopped working. Drinking water supply from Israel was cut on 9 October, causing a severe shortage of drinking water for over 650,000 people.
No humanitarian supplies have been allowed into Gaza for a week now. A plane carrying medical supplies for Gaza from the United Nations health agency landed Saturday in el-Arish airport in Egypt's Sinai Peninsula, but is awaiting the reopening of the Rafah crossing point, according to Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, director general of the World Health Organization (WHO).
Egypt erects blast walls at the closed Rafah Crossing
The Rafah crossing point with Gaza has been closed since earlier this week after Israeli airstrikes hit close to its Palestinian side. Officials said the blast walls were erected as part of “precautionary measures” Egypt has taken in recent days over growing concerns about a mass exodus of Palestinians. One of the officials said the walls will be removed once a deal is reached with Israel to spare the crossing from its airstrikes.
A second official at the Egyptian side of the Rafah crossing point said they received “instructions” to reopen it on Saturday afternoon for foreigners coming from Gaza, according to Al Jazeera.
