Israel-Hamas updates: Thousands flee as Israel starts ground raids in Gaza
Here are the updates from the Israel-Hamas war on Friday October 13, 2023.
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Day seven of the Israel-Hamas war began with a grim warning from Israel for Palestinians in Gaza to flee the northern reaches of the enclave within 24 hours, a demand the UN secretary general dismissed as “impossible”.
Read about the fear and confusion caused by the demand here.
Observers also believe the order is laying the groundwork for an Israeli ground incursion into Gaza. Read about the strategic implications of such an operation here.
Thank you for following along with all the updates today.
The latest developments in the Israel-Hamas war
- Hamas officials say dozens of Palestinians have been killed in Israeli strikes as they attempted to heed Israeli orders to evacuate the northern Gaza Strip.
- International organisations, including the United Nations, have condemned the Israeli demand. The World Health Organization (WHO) says it amounts to a “death sentence” for vulnerable hospital patients.
- A Reuters journalist was killed and six other media workers wounded – including two Al Jazeera staff – by Israeli shelling in the south of Lebanon.
- The Israeli army says it conducted small ground raids inside the Gaza Strip to gather intelligence on captives and collect bodies of missing Israelis.
- Tens of thousands of protesters rallied across the Middle East and parts of Asia, Europe and the United States in support of Palestinians and in condemnation of Israel as it intensified its attacks on Gaza.
UN chief says killing of journalist in Lebanon shows risk of spillover
The death of Reuters videographer Issam Abdallah, who was killed in shelling in southern Lebanon, demonstrates the enormous risk that the conflict between Israel and Hamas will spill over into Lebanon, United Nations Secretary-General Guterres has said.
His response comes after the US State Department said officials were still working to gather information on reports of journalists killed and injured in Lebanon.
“Today and every day, we stand with journalists around the world who do critical work that we all rely on every single day, sometimes in dangerous conditions,” a spokesperson said, according to Reuters.
Celtic fans pledge continued support for Palestine despite backlash
A major Celtic fan group has pledged to continue to display solidarity with Palestinian people and fly the Palestinian flag at upcoming football games, despite criticism by the Scottish club’s board.
The Green Brigade plans to “show the world that the club stands with the oppressed, not the oppressor”.
“We must apply learning from apartheid South Africa to dismantle apartheid Israel – if we are neutral in situations of injustice, we have chosen the side of the oppressor,” the fan group said.
The Glasgow-based Celtic, one of Scotland’s two big clubs, has a long history of support for the Palestinian cause.
You can read more here.
Lebanon journalists gather to mourn killed colleague
Dozens of journalists and rights activists in Beirut gathered to grieve over the death of Reuters videographer Issam Abdallah and injury of six other media members in an apparent strike by Israel’s military along Lebanon’s border.
“We are urgently seeking more information, working with authorities in the region, and supporting Issam’s family and colleagues,” the Reuters news agency said. “Our deepest condolences go out to those affected, and our thoughts are with their families at this terrible time.”
Al Jazeera said two of its employees, Elie Brakhya and Carmen Joukhadar, were among the wounded. At least 11 journalists have been killed since the Israel-Hamas war began a week ago, the Committee to Protect Journalists said.
Read the full story here.
Russia says fighting happening amid Israel’s ‘systemic violations’ of UN decisions
Vasily Nebenzya, the Russian ambassador to the UN, says the root cause of the situation in Gaza was of “critical importance” to understand the ongoing fighting including Israel’s building of illegal settlements in the West Bank.
“Our Western colleagues do their best to promote the narrative the current escalation happened out of the blue because a band of savage terrorists attacked Israeli civilians. The US is especially insistent that the whole situation was unprovoked and Hamas are outcasts in enjoying support,” he told reporters in New York.
“If it was so, there would be no protests in the West Bank against Israel’s actions and no widespread Arab and Muslim support for Palestine. We shouldn’t ignore that the current flare-up of violence happens against the background of Israel’s systematic violations of the decisions of the UN Security Council and the UN General Assembly, including the illegal expansion of settlements – which is regularly condemned by the vast majority of human UN member states.”
Nebenzya added the US was to a “large extent” responsible for the “looming war” in the Middle East.
“It is Washington that recklessly and selfishly blocked the work of the Middle East Quartet of international mediators in an effort to monopolise the peace process, and limited it to imposing an economic peace with Israel on the Palestinians and other Arab states without solving the Palestinian question.”
Tens of thousands rally around the world to support Palestinians
Tens of thousands of protesters rallied across the Middle East and parts of Asia, Europe and the United States in support of Palestinians and in condemnation of Israel as it intensified its attacks on Gaza.
A huge Palestinian flag was passed overhead at a protest in Rome, and demonstrations took place in other European cities including Brabrand in Denmark and Berlin, where some protesters were arrested by police. Germany and France had banned pro-Palestinian demonstrations.
In Baghdad, tens of thousands of Iraqis rallied in central Tahrir Square, waving Palestinian flags and burning the Israeli flag while chanting anti-US and anti-Israeli slogans. State-organised rallies were held across Iran.
In Lebanon, Hezbollah deputy chief Naim Qassem told a protest the armed group is “fully ready” to contribute to the fighting.
Muslim American leader to Biden: ‘You failed us’
Nihad Awad, the executive director of the Council on American Islamic Relations (CAIR), has slammed US President Joe Biden, accusing him of failing to recognise Palestinians’ humanity.
“You are not helping,” Awad said on Friday, addressing Biden. “You are, in fact, giving the green light for Israel to commit a genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity. You failed us as American citizens. You failed us as Palestinians. And you failed the world community.”
Awad also called on Biden to put an end to Israeli atrocities in Gaza. “You have the ability and power to prevent a mass crime and genocide from happening,” he said.
Israel’s evacuation order for Gaza a ‘death sentence’ for patients
Israel’s evacuation order for Gaza amounts to a “death sentence” for vulnerable hospital patients, the World Health Organization (WHO) warned.
“We implore Israel to reverse this decision. Moving the patients would put their lives at immediate risk, as well as the lives of the health workers,” WHO chief Tedros Ghebreyesus said on X.
He pleaded for the “immediate reversal” of the “Gaza evacuation order to protect people’s health and reduce suffering”.
“Due to ongoing air strikes and closed borders, civilians have no safe place to go. We appeal for the urgent establishment of a humanitarian corridor for safe aid delivery.”
Read more here
Gaza’s terrified children all too aware Israel’s bombs steal their joy
Reporting from the Gaza Strip, Ruwaida Amer explains that “children’s ages are measured by how many Israeli assaults they have been through” while living in the besieged enclave.
Approximately 500 children have been killed in the past seven days, and parents are worried about not just their children’s lives, but how they are processing the events they’re living through.
“He is very agitated and lashes out a lot these days. He jumps at any sound,” Samah Jabr says about her 13-year-old son Qusay. “He can’t bear anyone speaking loudly, even if they’re joking. I try to tell him that this war will end.”
Read the full story here.
Lufthansa suspends flights to Beirut: Spokesman
German airline Lufthansa has temporarily halted its flights to and from the Lebanese capital Beirut until October 16, a spokesperson for the organisation said.
The spokesman, who cited the decision was a result of the “current situation in the Middle East”, confirmed information from two passengers who had been unable to fly from Frankfurt to Beirut.
Additionally, on Saturday, Lufthansa reduced its flights to Tel Aviv, citing concerns about “the prevailing security conditions.”
Gaza ‘on brink of collapse’ as Israeli expulsion order unleashes chaos
The UN agency for Palestinian refugees, UNRWA, says it will not evacuate its schools where hundreds of thousands have taken shelter. But it relocated its headquarters to southern Gaza, according to spokesperson Juliette Touma.
“The scale and speed of the unfolding humanitarian crisis is bone-chilling. Gaza is fast becoming a hellhole and is on the brink of collapse,” said Philippe Lazzarini, UNRWA’s commissioner general.
Pressed by reporters on whether the Israeli army would protect hospitals, UN shelters, and other civilian locations, Israeli military spokesperson Daniel Hagari said the military would keep civilians safe “as much as we can”.
But he warned: “It’s a war zone.”
US legislators call on White House to assure Israeli restraint
Fifty-five US legislators have appealed to the White House to pressure Israel to follow international law.
The appeal says the legislators are “deeply concerned” over Israel’s order for Palestinians to evacuate the north of the Gaza Strip, as well as the “complete siege” of the enclave.
They said any supplemental aid requests to Congress should include humanitarian assistance for “both Palestinians in Gaza and Israelis”.
The White House has not condemned the Israeli order to evacuate northern Gaza. White House National Security spokesman John Kirby today declined to take a position on Israel’s move, but called it a “tall order”.
55 US Congress members: "We're deeply concerned
about the order to evacuate.. imposing a complete siege on Gaza & depriving 2.3 million Palestinian civilians who have nowhere else to go—half are children—of food, water & electricity would be a violation of int'l humanitarian law" https://t.co/QSb9mXkFyb— Omar Shakir (@OmarSShakir) October 13, 2023
Russia proposes UNSC resolution calling for humanitarian ceasefire
Russia has proposed a draft United Nations Security Council resolution concerning the conflict in Israel and Gaza, calling for a humanitarian ceasefire and condemning violence against civilians, according to a draft text seen by Al Jazeera
The draft resolution, consisting of a single page, also calls for the release of hostages, unimpeded humanitarian aid delivery, and the secure evacuation of civilians requiring assistance, Reuters reported.
The text was given to the 15-member council during a closed-door meeting on the conflict, diplomats said.
One diplomat who spoke to Al Jazeera Arabic has already described the draft resolution as “not serious” because it does not mention Hamas.
Hundreds rally in support of Palestinians in New York City
By Kristen Saloomey in Times Square, New York City
Demonstrators have come out in force in support of the Palestinians. For about two blocks, it is full of people waving Palestinian flags and signs that say “Free Palestine”.
That’s the chant we have been hearing, and the message we’ve been getting from speakers at this event: Free Palestine, end the bombing of Gaza, end the funding of the Israeli military. These hundreds of hundreds, if not thousands of people have come out amid heightened security and tension here in New York.
New York has a very large Jewish population, the largest Jewish population outside of Israel, with more people than Jerusalem and Tel Aviv combined.
There is a lot of police officers that I can see. The National Guard has been called in to protect transit hubs in the area. So there’s a lot of tension and a lot of concern. But so far, we’re just seeing very passionate, very peaceful, very passionate demonstrators calling for support for the Palestinian people.
When a family dies under Israel’s bombs, part of Gaza’s history disappears
As the number of victims rises and more and more families disappear from Palestine’s rich tapestry of history and culture, there is a bewildered note to the mourning as people try to come to grips with what these disappearances mean. Read more here.
MSF says Israel has extended deadline to evacuate Al Awda hospital
The aid group Doctors Without Borders, known as MSF, previously said it was given only two hours to evacuate. It now says the order has been extended to 6am local time (03:00 GMT).
“The evacuation of patients remains complicated,” the organisation said on X.
Gaza’s health ministry said it is impossible to evacuate the many wounded from hospitals, which are already struggling with high numbers of dead and injured. “We cannot evacuate hospitals and leave the wounded and sick to die,” spokesperson Ashraf al-Qidra said.
Al Awda Hospital is struggling to evacuate dozens of patients and staff after the military contacted it and told it to do so by Friday night, said MSF, which supports the facility.
Saudi Arabia condemns displacement, attacks on Gaza civilians
Saudi Arabia has denounced the displacement of Palestinians from Gaza and attacks on “defenceless civilians”.
Riyadh “affirms its categorical rejection of calls for the forced displacement of the Palestinian people from Gaza and its condemnation of the continued targeting of defenceless civilians there”, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement.
It also called for the international community “to quickly move to stop all forms of military escalation against civilians, prevent a humanitarian catastrophe and provide the necessary relief and medical needs for the residents of Gaza”.
“Depriving them of these basic requirements for a decent life is a violation of international humanitarian law and will exacerbate the depth of the crisis and suffering that this region is witnessing.”
At the Grand Mosque in Mecca, the imam, Sheikh Osama bin Abdullah Khayyat, teared up while leading prayers, saying: “May God protect the Muslims in Palestine.”
Biden says Gaza humanitarian crisis a ‘priority’
The Biden adminstration has been criticised for not taking a firmer stand in urging restraint from its close ally Israel.
That has included not taking a position on Israel’s call for civilians to leave northern Gaza. The move by Israel has been decried by the United Nations and other international organisations.
Still, Biden told reporters that addressing the humanitarian crisis in Gaza was a “priority”. Earlier in the day, the secretary of state said the US was working with regional partners in an attempt to create “safe zones” in Gaza.
“We have to. We can’t lose sight of the fact that the overwhelming majority of Palestinians had nothing to do with Hamas and Hamas’s appalling attacks and they’re suffering as a result as well,” Biden said.
US tells diplomats not to use ‘de-escalation’ when discussing conflict: Report
The Huffington Post has reported that the US Department of State has sent messages to diplomats advising them to avoid using terms that call for a calming of violence amid the ongoing bombardment of Gaza.
The messages tell diplomats to avoid using the terms “de-escalation/ceasefire”, “end to violence/bloodshed” and “restoring calm” in press materials, according to the website, which said it had viewed the dispatches.
The report comes amid criticism that President Joe Biden’s administration has not done enough to urge Israeli restraint amid high civilian casualties.
UN displacement expert ‘horrified’ by Gaza order
A UN expert on displacement says she is “horrified” by Israel telling 1.1 million Palestinians to evacuate the northern Gaza Strip, condemning the order as a crime against humanity.
Paula Gaviria Betancur, the UN’s special rapporteur on the human rights of internally displaced persons, said it was inconceivable that so many people could move across a warzone without devastating consequences.
“Forcible population transfers constitute a crime against humanity, and collective punishment is prohibited under international humanitarian law,” Gaviria Betancur said in a statement.
“We are horrified at the prospect of an additional one million Palestinians joining the over 423,000 people already forcibly driven from their homes by the violence over the past week. It is inconceivable that more than half of Gaza’s population could traverse an active war zone without devastating humanitarian consequences, particularly while deprived of essential supplies and basic services.”
Israeli army confirms ground raids inside Gaza Strip
By Hoda Abdel-Hamid in West Jerusalem
The Israeli army is saying it has conducted a ground raid inside the borders of the Gaza Strip and said this was done for several purposes.
The first one being collecting bodies of missing Israelis that had been left behind along that border inside the Gaza Strip. The Israeli army is saying they have found out about it through air surveillance.
The second part of the mission was also to deplete Hamas’s anti-tank missile capabilities. Israel is saying they had targeted several Hamas positions along that border and to also finally try to collect any kind of information about the captives who were taken inside the strip.
The army is saying that objects or any kind of clues that they could find all along that border, that was vital information for them. From what we understand, that raid, that incursion is over. And the infantry division that was in there has actually crossed back into southern Israel.
People moving to hospitals for safety in southern Gaza
By Tareq Abu Azzoum in southern Gaza
I’m right now at Al-Nasser medical complex in Khan Younis in southern Gaza.
There is a very big crowd of people here who have been displaced from their homes and are here to seek shelter. They don’t have any proper sources of energy, clean water and medical supplies.
They are now sitting in different areas of the complex while trying to also get basic necessities from local supermarkets that can help them survive.
Many of them facing the danger of being killed in an Israeli air attack feel Al-Nasser is the best place for them to seek protection.
Most Gaza hospitals are facing a shortage of medical supplies. Israel has shuttered the Karem Shalom crossing, which is preventing the entry of essential items to the besieged enclave.
Gaza death toll rises to 1,900; 49 Palestinians killed in West Bank
The death toll in Gaza has risen to 1,900 with 7,696 people injured in seven days of the Israeli bombardment, according to the Health Ministry.
The ministry said 14 Palestinian have been killed in the West Bank on Friday, bringing the total killed in the occupied territory since Saturday to 49.
Hamas promises to resist Israel’s ‘ethnic cleansing’ in Gaza
Hamas has rejected an Israeli threat for 1.1 million people in Gaza to leave the northern area within 24 hours to “save themselves”.
For many Palestinians, the order is reminiscent of the mass exodus known as the Nakba, or “catastrophe”, during Israel’s creation in 1948.
“We adamantly reject to be expelled from our homes once again,” said a statement from Izzat al-Risheq, a member of Hamas’s political bureau.
“We will resist Israel’s attempt to ethnically cleanse Gaza. Israel has publicly declared its plan to commit genocide against Palestinians. What the Zionists are doing is inhumane, it is unprecedented. We will either live standing tall or we will die fighting.”