The Palestinian militant organisation Hamas announced on Friday that Israel's bombardment of the Gaza Strip had killed 13 hostages, including foreign nationals, who were being held by the group. As of now, there has been no official confirmation or response from Israeli authorities to these allegations, raising concerns about the deterioration of the situation in the region, news agency Associated Press (AP) reported.
Earlier in the day, Israel's military ordered 1 million Palestinians to flee northern Gaza and head south, an unprecedented order that applied to nearly half the population ahead of an expected ground invasion against Hamas, according to a report by the Associated Press.
The United Nations warned that such a large number of people fleeing would be disastrous. Hamas, which launched a shocking and brutal attack on Israel nearly a week ago and has fired thousands of rockets since, dismissed the attack as a ruse and urged residents to remain at home.
According to the report, the evacuation order, which included Gaza City, which is home to hundreds of thousands of Palestinians, sparked widespread panic among civilians and aid workers who were already fleeing Israeli airstrikes and dealing with a total siege and a territory-wide blackout.
"Forget about food, forget about power, forget about fuel." "The only concern now is whether you'll make it, whether you'll live," said Nebal Farsakh, a spokesperson for the Palestinian Red Crescent in Gaza, as quoted by the AP.
The war has already claimed over 2,800 lives on both sides and has heightened tensions throughout the region. Weekly Muslim prayers later Friday could spark mass protests in east Jerusalem, the occupied West Bank, and elsewhere. Israel has exchanged fire with Lebanon's Hezbollah militant group in recent days, raising fears of a wider conflict, though the border is currently calm.
Tensions were high in Jerusalem's Old City. According to the Islamic endowment in charge of the contested Al-Aqsa Mosque compound, Israeli authorities have barred all Palestinian men under the age of 50 from entering.
Since a weekend attack in which Hamas fighters stormed into the country's south and massacred hundreds, including children in their homes and young people at a music festival, Israel has bombarded Gaza around the clock. Militants also kidnapped and dragged 150 people into Gaza.
According to spokesperson Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari, the military urged all civilians in Gaza's north to relocate to the south, an order that the UN said affects 1.1 million people.
Israel has stated that it must target Hamas' military infrastructure, much of which is buried deep underground. Another official, Jonathan Conricus, stated that the military will use "significant force" while making "extensive efforts to avoid harming civilians." He stated that residents would be permitted to return once the war was over.
Hamas militants operate in civilian areas, accusing Israel of using Palestinians as human shields. If carried out, a mass evacuation of civilians would expose their fighters like never before.
said that "if Hamas prevents residents from evacuating, the responsibility lies with them." He made it clear that "every part of the Hamas infrastructure will be attacked".
According to the report, UN spokesperson Stephane Dujarric stated that such an evacuation would be impossible to stage without "devastating humanitarian consequences." He urged Israel to revoke any such orders, saying they could "transform what is already a tragedy into a calamitous situation".
The evacuation orders were interpreted as a further signal of an already anticipated Israeli ground offensive, though Israel has yet to announce such a decision, according to the report.
Netanyahu, Israel's Prime Minister, has vowed to "crush" Hamas, which has ruled Gaza since 2007. His government is under intense public pressure to depose the group rather than containing it in Gaza, as it has done for years.
A visit by US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Thursday, along with shipments of US weapons, provided Israel with a powerful green light to proceed with its retaliation. Lloyd Austin, the United States' Defence Secretary, arrived in Israel on Friday.