Israeli forces take position for ground assault; UN says 4 lakh people have fled north Gaza

Tribune News Service

Sandeep Dikshit

New Delhi, October 14

The eighth day of the war in Gaza saw thousands of Palestinians crammed in trucks and pickups as they fled north Gaza to the south following a 48-hour deadline by the Israeli military before it redoubled its ongoing air offensive and launched a ground assault as well. The UN estimates that four lakh out of about 11 lakh people in north Gaza have fled their homes.

In a statement, the Israeli military said its forces were deployed across the country, increasing operational readiness for the next stages of the war, “with an emphasis on significant ground operations”.

Terrorist outfit Hamas, on the other hand, told people not to leave as it geared up for a street-by-street battle. It said in a message that the roads were unsafe, and many had been killed while fleeing. The Palestinian Red Crescent has ignored the order to evacuate, saying it was duty-bound to keep the hospital going.

Toll crosses 3,400

Palestine 2,200

Israel 1,200

The UN appealed for immediate humanitarian access throughout Gaza while its Secretary General Antonio Guterres said, “Even wars have rules.” Iran and Egypt joined Turkiye, China and Russia in calling on Israel to stop its attacks on Gaza civilians. “Despite all the ferocity on both sides, we need to think about the civilian population,” said Russian President Vladimir Putin.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken called up Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi to seek help in preventing the war from spreading. Blinken also called for protecting civilians in the Gaza Strip.

Amidst pounding by the Israeli air force and without access to power or medicines, the Palestinian death toll has crossed 2,200 even as the Israeli army began its first moves towards a ground offensive with raids to retrieve the bodies of several kidnapped Israelis as well as destroy the Hamas infrastructure. A quarter of the Palestinian deaths have been of children.

An Israeli artillery attack killed a Reuters journalist in Lebanon from where Hezbollah has intermittently fired salvos at Israeli military positions. The death toll of Israelis stood at 1,200, including 222 soldiers, most of them killed in the initial hours of the Hamas assault last Saturday. Five more were wounded this Saturday in mortar shelling.

The Israeli military also said it had killed the Hamas commander of the massacre in kibbutz. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu visited two kibbutz and surveyed the destroyed homes after the Hamas’ rampage. Netanyahu also posed for photographs with the local military commanders amidst Israeli media reports stating that his visit signalled the imminence of a ground offensive. Troops were “getting ready for the next stage of operations”, said an Israeli military spokesperson.

Palestinians’ Arab neighbours, while expressing sympathy with their plight, did not favour a humanitarian corridor to the 22 lakh civilians of Gaza for fear that they might become permanently displaced and lose their right to a future state. The US was talking to Egypt, Israel and Qatar to open the sole border crossing between Gaza and Sinai (Egypt) to let some people out and send in aid. Israel has maintained that nothing could enter through that crossing without its assent.

Hamas ultra who led attack killed

The Israel Defence Forces (IDF) said they had killed top Hamas commander who led one of the attacks on Israel. “Ali Qadi led the inhumane and barbaric Oct 7 massacre of civilians,” the IDF said.

Air India, spicejet operate flights

Air India and SpiceJet operated one flight each to Tel Aviv on Saturday to bring back Indians. These chartered flights are being operated under the Indian Government’s ‘Operation Ajay’.

Third batch of 197 Indian nationals flies out of Israel

• The third batch of 197 Indians left Israel for India on a special flight on Saturday
• The first chartered flight from Israel carried 212 persons under ‘Op Ajay’ on Thursday
• Second batch of 235 Indian nationals was flown back from Israel late on Friday
• As many as 644 Indians of the total 18,000 in Israel have been flown out so far

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