After the end of a new evacuation period, the United Nations reports a “mass exodus” to the south of the Gaza Strip. Local hospitals are now warning that they will soon run out of power – and the situation is getting worse.
In view of a new time window set by Israel for the evacuation of Gaza City, many people have apparently left the area again. The UN Office for Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said a “mass exodus from the north to the south of the Gaza Strip is underway.”
Israel had guaranteed civilians a safe escape corridor to the south between 9 a.m. and 12 p.m. CEST. An Israeli military spokesman confirmed in a video press conference: “We have detected a significant movement of Palestinian civilians towards the south.” Around the Gaza Strip, Israeli reserve soldiers would prepare “in formation for the next phase of operations.” They are positioned around the Gaza Strip, in the south, in the center and in the north, the spokesman said.
Hospitals are running out of energy
Meanwhile, the situation is becoming increasingly difficult for the people in the completely sealed off Gaza Strip. There is a lack of food, water and fuel. Local doctors are warning of a catastrophe with many deaths in the hospitals in the coastal enclave. The clinics are running out of fuel to run generators after the only power plant in the Gaza Strip was shut down. The UN expects that hospitals in Gaza will have around two days of fuel left.
Doctors at Nasser Hospital in Khan Yunis, the second largest hospital in the Gaza Strip, report that hundreds of people with blast injuries have been admitted in the past eight days. Many patients have serious and complex injuries and require intensive medical care. Dozens would have to be treated in intensive care or artificially ventilated. “All these patients are at risk of death if the power is cut off,” a doctor said.
According to Palestinian information, more than 2,300 people have been killed and around 10,000 wounded in the Gaza Strip since Hamas’ terrorist attack on Israel a week ago. The Palestinian Ministry of Health announced that 300 people had died in the last 24 hours alone.
Uncertainty about ground offensive
It remained unclear when the expected Israeli ground offensive would begin. The Israeli newspaper Haaretz warned that the longer Israel waited, the sooner the West’s solidarity with the attacked country would wane.
If Israeli ground troops invade, there are fears that the conflict will expand through attacks by the Shiite militia Hezbollah from southern Lebanon on Israel. Iran’s Foreign Minister Hussein Amirabdollahian had warned Israel the day before of an “earthquake against the Zionists.” There is growing international concern that the conflict is developing into a conflagration.
Exclusion zone on the border with Lebanon
The situation is also getting worse on the northern border with Lebanon. There have been clashes there for days between gunmen from the pro-Iranian Hezbollah militia and the Israeli army. There were deaths on both sides. The Israeli army has now declared a four-kilometer-wide strip of the border area a restricted zone. It is forbidden to enter this zone. Civilians living within two kilometers of the border were ordered to stay close to shelters at all times.
According to Syrian media reports, the Israeli army also attacked the international airport in the northern Syrian city of Aleppo. As a result, operations there came to a standstill. The daily newspaper “Al-Watan” reported that the runway was hit during the shelling on Saturday evening. It had been repaired just hours earlier after a similar attack by Israel on Thursday.