Manas Dasgupta
NEW DELHI, Oct 13: As Israeli military build-up continued on the Gaza border, the United Nations on Friday warned the country of “devastating consequences” on Israeli military asked over a million Gazans and UN officials to relocate south within 24 hours.
The UN has called on the Israel military to take back the evacuation order for Gazans to avoid the tragedy turn into a “calamitous situation.” “The UN considers it impossible for such a movement to take place without devastating humanitarian consequences,” it said. The UN has moved its operations to southern Gaza after it said the order would be applicable even to UN staff and those sheltered in UN facilities like schools and clinics.
Israeli military has started massing up its tanks near the border and ordered the evacuation of civilians from the Gaza city. “Residents of Gaza, move south for your personal safety and your families. Distance yourself from the Hamas terrorists who use you as human shield. Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) will continue to operate significantly in Gaza City in the coming days, and wishes to avoid harming civilians,” it said indicating that the Israel was planning ground invasion to Gaza. Gaza shares its boundary with Egypt in the south and with Israel in the north and east.
With power supplies cut and food and water in the Palestinian enclave running short after a week of retaliatory air strikes and a full Israeli blockade, the UN said Gaza’s civilians were in an impossible situation. “The noose around the civilian population in Gaza is tightening. How are 1.1 million people supposed to move across a densely populated warzone in less than 24 hours?” UN aid chief Martin Griffiths wrote on social media.
While some heeded the call to leave, by Friday afternoon there was little sign of a mass exodus. Countries urged Israel on Friday to hold off on plans for an all-out assault on northern Gaza, where more than a million civilians largely defied its order to evacuate before it goes after Hamas operatives who slaughtered Israelis a week ago. Hamas, which controls the densely populated Palestinian territory, vowed to fight until the last drop of blood and told residents to stay put after Israel said they should move to the south within 24 hours.
Top US diplomat Antony Blinken visited Tel Aviv on Thursday and assured his country’s support to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. He said he was shown horrifying photos of “baby riddled with bullets” and “soldiers beheaded.”
The US has confirmed the death of at least 27 Americans in Israel in the Hamas attack. At least 1,200 have died in Israel and another 1,400 in Gaza strip since the war began Saturday. Besides, the bodies of 1,500 Hamas operatives were found in the Israeli territory, the government has claimed. Nearly 150 others who were dragged across from the Israeli side are still being held hostage by Hamas.
Israel has imposed a “complete” siege on Gaza, cutting off water, fuel and electricity supplies. The Palestinian territory’s sole power plant shut down on Wednesday after running out of fuel. Israel has vowed that it won’t allow humanitarian aid into Gaza until Hamas releases the hostages.
The conflict situation has prompted several countries to evacuate their citizens from Israel. India brought back 212 of its citizens from Israel this morning on a special flight under “Operation Ajay”. Flights have been arranged to facilitate the return of those who were unable to do so because Air India has suspended its flight from Israel. The government is bearing the cost of their return.
Hamas launched a fierce rocket attack and hundreds of its operatives went on a rampage in Israeli border towns on Saturday, slaughtering civilians and kidnapping them to Gaza. This triggered Israeli airstrikes on Hamas hideouts in Gaza strip, reducing neighbourhoods into rubble.
Lebanon’s Hezbollah and Syria have become new challenges for the Israeli military. Israel targeted Syria’s two main airports (in Damascus and Aleppo) yesterday, grounding flights and putting the airports out of service. It also exchanged artillery fire with Lebanon’s Hezbollah, which is backed by Iran, in a contested region.
Israel and Palestinian groups have fought several wars since Hamas took power in Gaza in 2007. The latest violence erupted a day after Hamas said the “people had to draw a line to end the occupation” and added that Israel continued to commit crimes across Palestinian land, and especially on the holy site of Al-Aqsa in Jerusalem.
White House national security spokesman John Kirby said such a huge evacuation was a “tall order” but that Washington would not second guess its ally’s decision to tell civilians to get out of the way. “We understand what they’re trying to do and why they’re trying to do this — to try to isolate the civilian population from Hamas, which is their real target,” he said. The northern half of the Gaza Strip includes the enclave’s biggest settlement Gaza City. The UN said it had been told that Israel wanted the entire population to move across the wetlands that bisect the enclave.
Mahmoud Abbas, President of the Palestinian Authority that is a rival of Hamas, told Antony Blinken in Jordan that the forced displacement of Palestinians in Gaza would constitute a repeat of 1948, when hundreds of thousands of Palestinians fled or were driven from what is now Israel. Most Gazans are the descendants of such refugees.
Abbas called for aid to be allowed into Gaza immediately. Israel has said it will not lift its blockade until scores of hostages captured by Hamas are set free. Blinken and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu discussed providing safe zones in Gaza “where civilians could relocate to be safe from Israel’s legitimate security operations,” a U.S. state department official told reporters.
Israel has already responded with the most intensive air strikes of its 75-year conflict with the Palestinians. Gaza authorities say 1,799 people have been killed. The Israeli military has not spelled out what sort of operation it is planning next but has pledged to operate “significantly” in coming days. “We are fighting for our home. We are fighting for our future,” Defence Minister Yoav Gallant said. “The path will be long, but ultimately I promise you we will win.”
Hours after the Israeli evacuation call, there were few signs people were leaving Gaza City, where dozens gathered at the al-Shifa Hospital, vowing to stay put. Palestinians in southern and central areas of the enclave, where people were expected to flee to, said air strikes had hit there overnight, with central parts also hit on Friday morning. “No place is safe in the entire Gaza Strip,” the Palestinian Red Crescent Society said.
The U.N. humanitarian office (OCHA) said more than 400,000 people had already been made homeless in Gaza and 23 aid workers had been killed. “Mass displacement continues,” it said. The U.N. Palestinian refugee agency (UNRWA) said it had moved its central operations centre and international staff to Gaza’s south and urged Israel to spare its shelters.