Israel Delays All-Out Assault on Gaza Amid Growing International Pressure, as Civilians Flee to South
International pressure, including from the United States, for Israel to allow more time for Palestinian civilian evacuations of the northern half of Gaza Strip has grown. There appears to be some level of delay at this moment on the part of Israel’s military. Currently, there’s widespread expectation that Al Awda Hospital is about to be bombed, but Israel has extended an earlier 2-hour evacuation warning and deadline, it appears:
The humanitarion organization had previously said they were given only two hours two evacuate. They now say the order has been extended to 6am local (03 GMT). “The evacuation of patients remains complicated,” the organisation said on X
Hamas as well as Palestinian media have alleged that Israeli forces have killed some 70 men, women, and children as they were trying to flee to safety. There has been no response from the Israeli government regarding these specific allegations.
An Israeli i24 News anchor has also posted the following allegation:
GAZA: 70 people have been killed in Israeli air strikes on convoys fleeing Gaza City.
— Hamdah Salhut (@hamdahsalhut) October 13, 2023
An additional 200 have been injured. pic.twitter.com/i2zd44GkQ0
i24 has also highlighted the following new to emerge video from the Saturday music festival massacre by Hamas:
GRAPHIC VIDEO: Hamas terrorists methodically shoot at every portable toilet at the Israeli desert rave to make sure no partygoers survive pic.twitter.com/SVWFgN6dOy
— i24NEWS English (@i24NEWS_EN) October 13, 2023
Fears of an imminent all-out ground and aerial assault are growing, after one of northern Gaza’s main hospitals has sent out an SOS message. Hospital officials say they’ve been given two hours to evacuate. The WHO has decried this as life-threatening for patients there:
A Gaza activist organization describes of the hospital:
Al Awda Hospital, established in 1997, is the first-line hospital in the Gaza Strip and provides health services to all inhabitants in the northern part of the region. Al Awda is the main provider of maternity services in the northern part of the Gaza Strip and is the only provider of Fluoroscopy services. It is also authorized as an educational hospital from some universities in the Gaza Strip to train nursing students.
But where will they go?
Over 40 US lawmakers in the House have sent an urgent letter to President Biden:
More than 40 U.S. lawmakers urged the Biden administration to push Israel to follow international law amid Israel’s looming military campaign in Gaza and to establish a humanitarian corridor.
“We are deeply concerned about the order to evacuate over a million civilians out of northern Gaza and the devastating humanitarian consequences that would ensue,” wrote the House members.
“As both the European Union High Representative for Foreign Affairs and the United Nations Commission on Human Rights said, imposing a complete siege on Gaza and depriving 2.3 million Palestinian civilians who have nowhere else to go — half of whom are children — of food, water, and electricity, would be a violation of international humanitarian law,” they added.
