Israeli military says Gazans can still evacuate south, clashes at Lebanon border

Reuters:

GAZA/JERUSALEM, Oct 15 – The Israeli military said on Sunday it would continue to allow Gazans to evacuate south and hundreds of thousands had already moved, as its troops readied for a ground assault on the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip in retaliation for unprecedented attacks.

Israel has vowed to annihilate the militant group Hamas after its fighters rampaged through Israeli towns shooting men, women and children and seizing hostages in the worst attack on civilians in the country’s history.

Some 1,300 people were killed in the unexpected onslaught, and graphic mobile phone video footage and reports from medical and emergency services of atrocities in the overrun towns and kibbutzes deepened Israel’s sense of shock.

Israel responded by subjecting Gaza to the most intense bombardment it has ever seen, putting the small enclave, home to 2.3 million Palestinians, under total siege and destroying much of its infrastructure.

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Gaza authorities said more than 2,300 people had been killed, a quarter of them children, and nearly 10,000 wounded. Rescue workers searched desperately for survivors of nighttime air raids. One million people had reportedly left their homes.

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken is in the region seeking to secure the release of 126 hostages Israel says were taken by Hamas back into Gaza, and prevent the war from spreading.

Blinken said he had a “very productive” meeting with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in Riyadh on Sunday and was due to travel later to Egypt, whose Rafa crossing is now seen as the main gateway for aid to reach Gaza.

The violence in Gaza has been accompanied by the deadliest clashes at Israel’s northern border with Lebanon since 2006, raising fears of war spreading to another front.

Israel’s regional foe Iran, which backs Hamas, has lauded the Hamas attack on Israel but has denied any involvement. Its UN mission said late on Saturday that if Israel’s “war crimes and genocide” were not halted immediately, “the situation could spiral out of control” and have far-reaching consequences.

Hamas said in a statement it and Iran had “agreed to continue co-operation” to achieve the group’s goals.

Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s national security adviser on Saturday warned Lebanon’s militant group Hezbollah, also supported by Iran, not to take action that could lead to Lebanon’s “destruction“.

Clashes on Israel’s border with Lebanon, which have been limited so far, resumed on Sunday when Hezbollah fighters launched a missile at an Israeli border village, killing one person and wounding three others. The Israeli military said it was striking in Lebanon in retaliation.