LAST UPDATE | 13 Oct 2023
ISRAELI OFFICIALS EARLIER today ordered the evacuation of 1.1 million people from northern Gaza within 24 hours, with the UN describing this as “impossible”.
Hamas rejected this order in a statement today and said it remains “steadfast in our land and in our homes and our cities”.
The UN agency for Palestinian Refugees labelled Israel’s evacuation order as “horrendous”.
The UN Chief, Antonio Guterres, appealed for Israel to “avert a humanitarian catastrophe” this evening.
The Israeli military confirmed this evening that a number of a small raids have been conducted by their personnel inside the Gaza Strip. The first time that it has confirmed forces are on the ground.
Prime Minister Banjamin Netanyahu said that Israel’s fierce bombardment of Gaza was “just the beginning” of his country’s response to the Hamas attacks.
Hamas also said at least 13 Israeli and foreign hostages held in the northern Gaza Strip have been killed in Israeli air strikes in the past 24 hours.
Israeli strikes on Gaza since Hamas’ deadly cross-border attack have killed at least 1,900 people, including 614 children, the territory’s health ministry said this evening.
Israel updated its death toll to say that more than 1,300 people have died in Israel in the conflict this week.
Here are the latest developments as they happened:
The United Nations said it had been informed of the Israeli order for the evacuation of 1.1 million people from northern Gaza shortly before midnight.
The order came six days after Hamas gunmen killed more than 1,200 people in Israel and took about 150 hostages in the deadliest attack since the country’s creation in 1948.
The UN said the mass relocation of the entire population in northern Gaza to the south of the enclave was “impossible” and urgently appealed for the order to be rescinded.
Meanwhile, Hamas has rejected the order ahead of an expected ground incursion into the overcrowded Palestinian territory.
“Our Palestinian people reject the threat of the occupation (Israeli) leaders and its call for them to leave their homes and flee from them to the south or Egypt,” the Islamist militant group said in a statement.
“We are steadfast on our land and in our homes and our cities. There will be no displacement,” it said.
Hamas has also said that at least 13 Israeli and foreign hostages held in the northern Gaza Strip have been killed in Israeli air strikes in the past 24 hours.
During the surprise assault early Saturday, Israel says Hamas had taken more than 150 people hostage, including both civilians and security forces.
“Thirteen prisoners… including foreigners” were killed in five locations targeted by Israeli fighter jets, the Ezzedine al-Qassam Brigades said in a statement.
Israel has rained air and artillery strikes on the blockaded Gaza Strip – a densely populated enclave of 2.4 million people – flattening buildings and killing more than 1,500 people.
According to the Hamas media office in Gaza, at least 500 children are among the dead.
The Ezzedine al-Qassam Brigades had warned this week that “every targeting of our people without warning will be met with the execution of one of the civilian hostages”.
An AFP journalist has reported that militants in the Gaza Strip have fired hundreds of rockets towards Israel, as the Israeli military continues pounding the Palestinian enclave with air strikes.
A barrage of rockets were fired within the past 15 minutes, the correspondent said.
Thousands of Iranians took to the streets of Tehran today in a show of support for Palestinians amid a bloody conflict between Israel and Hamas.
The demonstrators waved the flags of Iran, Palestine and Hezbollah and held banners that read “Down with America” and “Down with Israel” as they marched in the Iranian capital.
Similar rallies were held in other cities across the Islamic republic where flags of the US and Israel were burnt.
Meanwhile, Iran’s top diplomat today said the United States must rein in Israel to avert a regional spillover of the war with Hamas, adding Tehran was seeking to safeguard Lebanon’s security.
“If the Americans want to prevent the war in the region from developing, they must control Israel,” Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian said, adding, “one of the goals of our trip is to stress on Lebanon’s security”.
The World Health Organization has said that the Palestinian health ministry has told them it would be impossible to move vulnerable hospital patients to the south of the Gaza Strip.
“The Palestinian Ministry of Health has informed WHO that is impossible to evacuate vulnerable hospital patients from the north of Gaza,” WHO spokesman Tarik Jasarevic told reporters in Geneva, following Israel’s call for 1.1 million residents of northern Gaza to relocate to the south of the territory within 24 hours.
At least 258 Israeli soldiers have been killed in fighting against Palestinian militants since Hamas militants attacked Israel on Saturday, the Israeli army said today.
“The bereaved families of 258 fallen soldiers have been formally notified,” army spokesman Daniel Hagari told a press briefing, revising up an earlier toll of 169 slain troops.
Israel’s military has admitted it would take time for Palestinians to follow its orders to evacuate north Gaza, but did not confirm a UN report that it had set a 24-hour deadline.
“We are trying to provide the time and we are doing a lot of effort, and we understand it won’t take 24 hours,” army spokesman Daniel Hagari told journalists.
“I will not say (if) it’s an accurate time,” he added, when asked to confirm the army had informed UN officials Gazans had 24 hours to flee.
Russian President Vladimir Putin today warned that the Israeli forces’ expected ground offensive would bring unacceptable levels of civilian casualties, and that his country was ready to help with mediation efforts.
“The use of heavy machinery in residential areas is a complex matter fraught with grave consequences,” Putin said, “most importantly, the civilian casualties will be absolutely unacceptable.”
The Israeli military has dropped flyers on Gaza warning residents to flee “immediately” to the south, AFP correspondents in the Palestinian territory said.
“Evacuate your homes immediately and go south of Wadi Gaza,” read flyers dropped by drones and seen by AFP.
A map featured on the flyers showed an arrow pointing south across a line in the central Gaza Strip.
Crowds gathered today in Iran in support for Palestine, and similar scenes are unfolding in Jordan.
Thousands gathered in the Jordanian capital of Amman today for a demonstration, with more than 10,000 people in central Amman near Grand Hussein Mosque.
It’s in responding to call from Jordan’s Muslim Brotherhood, as well as several leftist and youth groups.
There was a heavy security presence in the area, said journalists at the scene.
The presidents of the European Commission and Parliament, Ursula von der Leyen and Roberta Metsola, are in Israel today in the wake of Hamas’s assault on Israeli communities.
A statement from the commission yesterday said the senior Brussels officials would “express solidarity with the victims of the Hamas terrorist attacks, and meet with Israeli leadership”.
In a post on X this morning, Metsola said: “We are here with a message of solidarity after the worst terror attack Israel has endured in generations.
“Terror will not prevail. How we respond matters. We can – we must – stop Hamas. And do what we can to mitigate humanitarian consequences.”
Back in Israel.
— Roberta Metsola (@EP_President) October 13, 2023
We are here with a message of solidarity after the worst terror attack #Israel has endured in generations.
Terror will not prevail. How we respond matters.
We can - we must - stop Hamas. And do what we can to mitigate humanitarian consequences.@vonderleyen pic.twitter.com/VxMgnwi0eU
The leader of the Scottish National Party, Humza Yousaf, has family members in Gaza.
He has shared a video this morning from his mother-in-law Elizabeth El-Nakla, who is one of the tens of thousands who have been told to leave:
This is Elizabeth El-Nakla. She is my mother-in-law. A retired nurse from Dundee, Scotland. She, like the vast majority of people in Gaza, has nothing to do with Hamas. She has been told to leave Gaza but, like the rest of the population, is trapped with nowhere to go. pic.twitter.com/D3ZUtnEmyO
— Humza Yousaf (@HumzaYousaf) October 13, 2023
The League of Arab States, an organisation made up of 22 Arab countries, has said the demand for Palestinians to evacuate the north of Gaza amounts to a crime.
Arab League chief Ahmed Abul Gheit said the “forced transfer” constitutes “a crime”.
In a letter sent to UN chief Antonio Guterres, he also accused Israel of carrying out “an atrocious act of revenge… punishing helpless civilians in Gaza” rather than a “planned or studied military operation” against Hamas.
Tánaiste Micheál Martin has called on Israel to rescind its evacuation order from northern Gaza and said that moving one million people in 24 hours “simply isn’t feasible”.
Speaking in Cork, the Tánaiste said that Israel’s actions in self-defence must be taken”within international law”.
“It simply isn’t feasible, that a million people can move out of the city in 24 hours,” he said.
“That call by Israel should be rescinded and should be pulled back.”
Read more about the Tánaiste’s comments here
Israel has just updated its death toll to say that more than 1,300 people have died in Israel in the conflict this week.
Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas on Friday has warned of a “second Nakba” catastrophe facing Palestinians after the Israeli army ordered more than one million people to evacuate north Gaza.
The Nakba, or “catastrophe”, refers to some 760,000 Palestinians who fled or were expelled from their homes during the 1948 war as Israel was created.
Abbas “completely rejects the displacement of our people from the Gaza Strip, because it will be tantamount to a second Nakba for our people,” he said, according to a statement published by the official Palestinian news agency Wafa.
The Iran-backed Hezbollah movement in Lebanon has said it would be “fully prepared” to join Hamas in the war against Israel.
“We are fully prepared, and when the time comes for action, we will take it,” Hezbollah deputy chief Naim Qassem told a pro-Palestinian rally in Beirut’s southern suburbs.
Several thousand Pakistani Muslims are protesting across the country against Israel’s bombardment of Gaza in retaliation to Hamas attacks.
Political and religious parties staged dozens of small demonstrations across the cities of Karachi, Lahore, Peshawar, and the capital Islamabad, where US and Israeli flags were burned.
Protester Shahid Husain, 47, said the leaders of Muslim nations were failing to stand up for Palestinians.
“We came to the streets to make our rulers realise that they don’t need to be scared of the US and that the public wants them to be on the side of Palestine – not Israel and America,” he said from Peshawar’s historic Qissa Khwani Bazaar.
It’s going to be massive pro Palestine protest in Pakistan #LetUsStandForPalestine #Gaza #Palestine #Isreal #IsraelPalestineConflict
— Arslan Baloch (@balochi5252) October 13, 2023
pic.twitter.com/O7FUkvf6hd
A few hundred people have also gathered in the Afghan cities of Kabul and Jalalabad for pro-Palestinian rallies organised by Taliban authorities.
“Palestine you are not alone, we are with you,” one speaker told the crowd. “We are poor, but we will do whatever we can. We can’t do much today but use our feet and stand in your support.”
At the weekend, Hamas gunmen killed more than 1,300 people in Israel in the deadliest attack since the country’s creation in 1948.
They seized around 150 hostages — including dozens of Israelis, dual and foreign nationals — whom Hamas is threatening to kill.
Israel has retaliated by raining air and artillery strikes in Gaza for six days, claiming more than 1,500 lives and displacing over 400,000 people in the crowded enclave.
The Pakistan government has condemned the “indiscriminate and disproportionate use of force by Israeli authorities” and “the inhumane blockade and collective punishment by Israeli forces”.
The United Nations has called on the Israeli army to rescind its order for the immediate relocation of 1.1 million people from north to south Gaza, as it relentlessly pounds the enclave.
The cramped and impoverished territory, where 2.3 million residents live on top of each other, has been under a land, air and sea blockade since 2006. Israel has now cut off water, electricity and food supplies, leaving the enclave in a state of siege.
The Commissioner-General of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) for Palestinian Refugees Philippe Lazzarini has labelled the evacuation order placed on 1.1 million people in Northern Gaza as “horrendous”
In a statement this afternoon, Lazzarini urged all parties and those with influence over Israel to “put an end to this tragedy”.
Lazzarini said: “As Gaza remains under heavy bombardment with Israel tightening its grip over the overpopulated Strip, it is left to the UN and humanitarians to protect civilians.”
“The call from Israeli Forces to move more than 1,000,000 civilians living in northern Gaza within 24 hours is horrendous. This will only lead to unprecedented levels of misery and further push people in Gaza into abyss.
Earlier, Israeli officials ordered the evacuation of 1.1 million people from northern Gaza within 24 hours. The UN has described this task as “impossible”.
Hamas has rejected this order, and in a statement said: “Our Palestinian people reject the threat of the occupation (Israeli) leaders and its call for them to leave their homes and flee from them to the south (of Gaza) or Egypt,” the Islamist militant group said in a statement.
“We are steadfast on our land and in our homes and our cities. There will be no displacement,” it said.
Lazzarini said over 423,000 people have already been displaced from Gaza, of which UNRWA has taken in more than 270,000 into their organisation’s shelters.
The UNRWA’s camps provide them with “basic food, medicine and support is provided to retain dignity and a glimmer of hope”, the Commissioner-General said.
“The scale and speed of the unfolding humanitarian crisis is bone-chilling. Gaza is fast becoming a hell hole and is on the brink of collapse.
“There is no exception, all parties must uphold the laws of war; humanitarian assistance must be provided at all times to civilians.
Lazzarini said that over 2 million people are caught in the conflict inside the perimeters of Gaza. “UNRWA is struggling to fulfil its mandate,” he added.
“I urge all parties and those with influence over them to put an end to this tragedy and provide immediate and unconditional humanitarian access and protection to the civilian, among them far too many women and children.
“The time for humanity to prevail is now,” he said.
President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen has shared images of her meeting Israeli officials today on X, formerly Twitter.
Earlier it was announced her and her European Parliament counterpart, Roberta Metsola, had arrived in Israel “with a message of solidarity” after the attacks in the country by Hamas.
In her post, von der Leyen said she expresses her “solidarity” with the Israeli people in the wake of the attacks.
I have arrived in Israel with @EP_President to express our solidarity with the Israeli people in the wake of the horrific Hamas terrorist attack. pic.twitter.com/4ktjwabx14
— Ursula von der Leyen (@vonderleyen) October 13, 2023
Local Chinese media is reporting this afternoon that an the Israeli Foreign Ministry has confirmed an attack on one of their diplomats that was stations in the country.
According to reports, one witness says they saw a man with a knife and the victim leaning against a car.
According to The South China Morning Post, the victim has been injured but not fatally.
*Graphic images on original post*
Reacting to the earlier statement from the UNRWA, Sinn Féin leader Mary Lou McDonald has labelled the attacks on Gaza as “collective punishment” and “A humanitarian crisis”.
On X, formerly Twitter, today, McDonald quoted the UNRWA’s post and said: “Collective punishment of Palestinian people. A humanitarian crisis.
“The imminent threat and certainty of worse to come. These are not defensive actions by Israel. These are crimes. On the world’s watch,” she added.
Collective punishment of Palestinian people. A humanitarian crisis. The imminent threat and certainty of worse to come. These are not defensive actions by Israel. These are crimes. On the world's watch. #IsraelPalestineConflict #Palestine https://t.co/JxAwY3ickm
— Mary Lou McDonald (@MaryLouMcDonald) October 13, 2023
The Israeli army’s call for more than one million people to evacuate north Gaza is a “tall order,” the White House said this afternoon.
The White House added the United States understands Israel is trying to give civilians “fair warning.”
“We understand what they’re trying to do. They’re trying to move civilians out of harm’s way,” National Security Council spokesman John Kirby told CNN.
“Now it’s a tall order. It’s a million people, and it’s very urban, dense environment. It’s already a combat zone. So I don’t think anybody’s underestimating the challenge here of effecting that evacuation.”
Meanwhile, AFP News is reporting that the United States is in discussions to open Gaza’s Rafa border crossing to foreign nationals who want to flee, according to a senior US official said.
Israel’s call sparks the assumption that its Defences Forces are gearing up for a major offensive.
“That is also something we discussed with Israel, something we continue to discuss with Egypt – the importance of the Rafah crossing being open for American citizens and for foreign nationals of other countries who want to leave and have the right to leave,” the official said.
In the West Bank, at least five Palestinians have been killed today by Israeli fire across, the Palestinian health ministry said.
The gunfire took place during rallies in solidarity with war-battered Gaza.
AFP News correspondents and a security official reported clashes in Ramallah, Nablus, Tulkarm, Hebron and other cities and towns, with the Palestinian Red Crescent reporting dozens wounded across the West Bank, some critically.
Deaths were recorded in Tulkarm, Nablus, Beit Ula and Tammun, the health ministry said in separate statements.
Taoiseach Leo Varadkar is meeting with French President Emmanuel Macron today at the Élysée Palace in Paris, France.
Ahead of his departure, Varadkar said: “My meeting with President Macron will be a timely opportunity to exchange views on the terrible events in the Middle East.
“We are at one in our condemnation of Hamas’ barbaric attack on Israel and its people, and in demanding the immediate release of hostages.
I will emphasise my deep concern about the need to avoid any escalation in the situation, including in the wider region.
I will also stress the importance of ensuring humanitarian access to Gaza,” he added.
The French foreign minister Catherine Colonna told a parliamentary hearing on Tuesday that eight French citizens have been killed by Hamas in Israel.
Colonna added there would be a special Air France flight on Thursday to help repatriate French nationals from the region.
“I will extend my heartfelt condolences on the death of French citizens in the Hamas attacks, and I will offer my profound hope for the safe return of those who continue to be held hostage,” Varadkar said.
China’s foreign minister Wang Yi said this afternoon that the cause of the Israel-Hamas conflict was “historical injustice” against Palestinians, as he met with the EU’s foreign policy chief in Beijing.
“The root of this problem lies in the long delay in the realisation of Palestine’s aspiration to establish an independent state, and in the fact that the historical injustice suffered by the Palestinian people has not been corrected,” Wang said after holding a meeting with Josep Borrell.
The Palestinian Health Ministry has sad the death toll inside the Gaza Strip has surged to 1,799, including 583 children.
In the West Bank, at least five Palestinians have been killed today by Israeli fire across, the Palestinian health ministry said earlier today.
The gunfire took place during rallies in solidarity with war-battered Gaza.
Israel ordered the evacuation of 1.1 million people from northern Gaza within 24 hours, the UN has described this as “impossible”.
Since, the UN agency responsible for Palestinian refugees has labelled Israel’s evacuation order of 1.1 million people from northern Gaza as “horrendous”.
The White House called it a “tall order” this afternoon.
The White House added the United States understands Israel is trying to give civilians “fair warning”.
“We understand what they’re trying to do. They’re trying to move civilians out of harm’s way,” National Security Council spokesman John Kirby told CNN.
“Now it’s a tall order. It’s a million people, and it’s very urban, dense environment. It’s already a combat zone. So I don’t think anybody’s underestimating the challenge here of effecting that evacuation.”
The general director of the international medical support charity, Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) has labelled Israel’s 24-hour evacuation order as “outrageous” in a statement today.
Meinie Nicolai said: “Israel’s 24-hour notice that people in Northern Gaza must leave their land, homes and hospitals is outrageous – this represents an attack on medical care and on humanity.
MSF join the United Nations, the UN agency for Palestinian Refugees and the White House in the US in critiquing the order from Israel.
Hamas has rejected the order in a statement today, and said it remains “steadfast in our land and in our homes and our cities”.
“There will be no displacement,” it said.
Nicolai said today: “We are talking about more than a million human beings.
‘Unprecedented’ doesn’t even cover the medical humanitarian impact of this,”
“Gaza is being flattened, thousands of people are dying, this must stop now. We condemn Israel’s demand in the strongest possible terms,” she added.
Sky News has shared footage of large demonstrations taking place in the centre of Baghdad, Iraq.
Thousands have gathered in the city centre to show support for Palestine and the people of Gaza.
The images show the crowd burning Israeli flags during the demonstration, which was called for by Shi’ite muslim leaders.
Tens of thousands of protesters have gathered in the centre of Baghdad to show support for Palestinian people in Gaza.
— Sky News (@SkyNews) October 13, 2023
Read more: https://t.co/s0Lu93cVn9 pic.twitter.com/dqFfYkakBz
Palestinian prime minister Mohammed Shtayyeh has accused Israel of committing “genocide” in its war against Hamas militants in the blockaded Gaza Strip.
“Our people in Gaza are going through genocide, and Gaza has become a disaster area,” Shtayyeh told a press conference in Ramallah.
Meta has said it is putting special resources towards cracking down on illegal and problematic content related to the assault by Hamas in Israel and its aftermath.
The announcement came after European regulators sent a warning letter to the Facebook and Instagram owner about the proliferation of disinformation and potentially illegal content being posted on the platforms.
Meta said it had strengthened its content moderation teams and set up a “special operations center” which was working around the clock to monitor and take action on problematic posts in Hebrew and Arabic.
In the three days following the 7 October attack by Hamas into Israel, “we removed or marked as disturbing more than 795,000 pieces of content for violating these policies in Hebrew and Arabic,” Meta said in a blog post.
Meta said that Hamas, which is considered a terrorist organisation in the US and other Western countries, is banned from its platforms and that it was actively removing posts which feature “praise and substantive support” for the organisation.
The details of Meta’s actions came after the EU gave the social media giant 24 hours to provide details on what they were doing to ensure “illegal content and disinformation” was being removed from their platforms in line with EU law.
Elon Musk’s X had received a similar 24-hour ultimatum earlier this week, and the company’s response had failed to satisfy the commission, which yesterday opened an investigation procedure against the platform.
TikTok was also asked to urgently share its content moderation measures with European authorities.
The massive Hamas attack on Israel cannot justify the “limitless destruction” of the Gaza Strip, the Red Cross has said.
“Nothing can justify the horrific attacks Israel suffered last weekend,” said a statement from the International Committee of the Red Cross.
“Our hearts go out to people who lost family members or are worried sick about loved ones taken hostage. We reiterate our call for their immediate release and stand ready to conduct humanitarian visits,” the ICRC said.
“But those attacks cannot in turn justify the limitless destruction of Gaza.
The parties must not neglect their legal obligations regarding the methods and means used to wage war.”
“The instructions issued by the Israeli authorities for the population of Gaza City to immediately leave their homes, coupled with the complete siege explicitly denying them food, water, and electricity, are not compatible with international humanitarian law,” the ICRC said.
“When military powers order people to leave their homes, all possible measures must be taken to ensure the population has access to basic necessities like food and water and that members of the same family are not separated.”
The ICRC said Gazans had “nowhere safe to go” and it was “impossible” for them to know which areas “will next face attack”.
Many would not be able to leave their homes, and international law protected all civilians, including those who remain, the humanitarian organisation stressed.
“Our teams will require pauses in the fighting to work safely and effectively,” the ICRC said.
The needs in Gaza were “staggering”, it added, but with a military siege in place, humanitarian organisations “will not be able to assist such a massive displacement of people in Gaza”.
Social Democrats leader Holly Cairns has said the Irish Government must exert pressure on EU Commission president Ursula von der Leyen to intervene in the situation in Gaza.
“Ms von der Leyen is today in Israel and has the ear of the Israeli government. She is now perfectly positioned to make a strong intervention for the immediate de-escalation of violence and a ceasefire.
“The Taoiseach must use whatever influence the Irish Government has to lobby Ms von der Leyen to make that intervention and convince Israel to come back from the brink.
“Israel must reverse its call on civilians to relocate to the south of Gaza within 24 hours in advance of an anticipated ground offensive – the alternative is too awful to contemplate.
“The World Health Organisation (WHO) has warned that such a mass evacuation would be akin to a death sentence for vulnerable hospital patients.
“Israel’s threat to escalate its bombardment of Gaza creates the prospect of a humanitarian crisis that is unimaginable in its scale.
“The EU Commission President, while rightly condemning the barbarity perpetrated on innocent people by Hamas, must also name Israel’s war crimes for what they are.”
Unicef has today launched a global emergency fundraising appeal to provide urgently required food, support, shelter, healthcare, sanitation and protection to children under siege in Gaza.
The international humanitarian agency estimates that $294 million will be required to support 2.1 million Gazans requiring urgent assistance.
Executive Director of Unicef Ireland Peter Power said:
“What we are seeing now across the Gaza Strip is nothing short of an epic disaster. Prior to the outbreak of hostilities on 7 October, 60% of the people in Gaza were already experiencing food insecurity, following more than 15 years of conflict.
“I myself returned from Gaza just six weeks ago, where locals described their experience as ‘living in an open-air prison’.
“This fresh horror unleashed upon the children in Gaza, many of whom have grown up in conflict and poverty is truly heartbreaking.”
European Parliament President Roberta Metsola has tweeted a photo of herself with President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen and Israeli President Isaac Herzog.
The post says: “Together.”
Together. pic.twitter.com/uNYFB7Xy38
— Roberta Metsola (@EP_President) October 13, 2023
EU chief Ursula von der Leyen has told Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that Israel had a duty to defend its citizens and vowed that Europe stood by its side.
“This is the most heinous assault against Jews since the Holocaust,” the president of the European Commission told the Israeli leader in Tel Aviv after visiting the site of an attack by Hamas militants.
“We thought this could never happen again, yet it did. In the face of this unspeakable tragedy, there is only one possible response: Europe stands with Israel.”
Christian Aid Ireland has urged Irish and EU leaders to oppose the Israeli military order for more than a million people in northern Gaza to abandon their homes in the next 24 hours, warning that it is impossible and will lead to further extreme suffering and loss of life.
“As well as the illegality, it is just not possible for a population equivalent to that of Dublin to safely relocate in one of the most densely populated places on earth. Roads are covered in rubble, people lack fuel, those in intensive care in hospitals cannot move. It is a recipe for humanitarian disaster,” Conor O’Neill, Christian Aid Ireland’s head of policy and advocacy said.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has urged Israel to avoid civilian deaths in Gaza, stepping up the tone after he backed reprisals against Hamas.
“We have urged the Israelis to use every possible precaution to avoid harm to civilians,” Blinken told a news conference in Qatar.
Several journalists were wounded Friday in Israeli shelling of south Lebanon, an AFP correspondent has said.
A group of journalists from several outlets were near Alma al-Shaab in south Lebanon close to the border when they were hit by Israeli fire, the correspondent said.
The Ireland Israel Alliance (IIA) is holding a rally and march in support of the State of Israel outside the Kildare Street entrance to Dáil Éireann at 2.30pm on Sunday.
The IIA said speakers include a representative from the Israeli community in Ireland, Deputy Director of the International Christian Embassy Jerusalem (Ireland) Paul Coulter, former Ireland Minister for Justice and Defence Alan Shatter, and Senior Pastor of All Nations Church Dublin John Ahern.
Following the rally, the IIA said there will be a march to the Embassy of Israel at Shelbourne Road, for a prayer service at 4pm.
More on EU chief Ursula von der Leyen’s trip to Israel…
We were in Kfar Azza.
— Ursula von der Leyen (@vonderleyen) October 13, 2023
One of the epicenters of the atrocities committed by Hamas last weekend.
The horror of what happened here is unspeakable.
We mourn with the families of the victims. pic.twitter.com/Sy0AXhcBM3
Speaking after she and European Parliament speaker Roberta Metsola toured the scene of many of the killings at the Kfar Aza kibbutz, von der Leyen said that “Hamas’ despicable actions are the hallmark of terrorists. And I know that how Israel responds will show that it is a democracy”.
“What I saw and what I heard is breaking my heart. The blood of people killed in their sleep. The stories of innocents burned alive or slaughtered in their homes,” she said.
“The parents hiding their newborn babies before confronting the terrorists. Children and elderly people ripped from their families and taken hostage,” she said.
“They aim to eradicate Jewish life from the land, and they took action.”
According to her office’s account of the Netanyahu meeting, von der Leyen promised that Europe would work more closely with Israel, Egypt and Jordan for “a peaceful and integrated Middle East”.
But she warned that the allies would have to be vigilant against “those who stand to gain from a perpetuating conflict in the Middle East, like Iran and Russia”.
Turning to her own continent, the head of the EU’s Brussels executive warned that “anti-Semitic incidents are again on the rise”, and promised to foster Jewish life in Europe.
Press Association is now reporting that according to witnesses, a journalist has been killed and six other people wounded in Israeli shelling of south Lebanon.
The Israeli military says its forces have carried out small raids inside the Gaza Strip, over the last 24 hours.
“Over the past 24 hours, IDF (Israeli military) forces carried out localised raids inside the territory of the Gaza Strip to complete the effort to cleanse the area of terrorists and weaponry,” an army statement said.
“During these operations, there was also an effort to locate missing persons.”
The raids came amid incessant Israeli air strikes on the Gaza Strip, with Palestinian militants firing back with rockets.
The militants abducted an estimated 150 Israelis and foreigners.
AFP News has reported that the first charter flight evacuating US citizens has left Israel for Europe, according to the White House.
This comes at the same time as US President Joe Biden spoke to the families of 14 Americans, who missing after Hamas attacked Israel six days ago.
At least 27 Americans are have been killed and others were kidnapped by Hamas.
The White House has not said exactly how many of the 14 people reported missing are among the hostages.
An estimated 150 Israelis, foreigners and dual-nationals were taken hostage during Saturday’s attack on Israel and taken to Gaza.
The White House has also said this evening that they believe there is been “specific” threats detected to the United States from Hamas.
Earlier, Biden has given several strongly worded speeches pledging support for Israel since Saturday’s assault by the Palestinian militant group, and at one point pounded on a lectern to make his point.
Emotion got the better of a senior White House official who choked up on live television as he discussed the attacks. Biden’s national security advisor admitted the crisis was “personal for us.”
The unusually open displays reflect deep anger in the White House over the attacks, which killed more than 1,200 people, as well as its long-standing ties with Israel.
In contrast, the White House’s reaction to the fate of people in Gaza after more than 1,530 people were killed in a week of Israeli strikes has been more muted.
As fears rise of a humanitarian disaster, Biden has called for Israel to follow the laws of war but said it had a “duty” to take on “terrorists.”
The 80-year-old Biden has long been a stalwart supporter of Israel and described this week how he had known “Bibi” – Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu – for half his lifetime.
Ties had cooled until recently due to a row between the two leaders over the Israeli government’s judicial reforms.
But that disagreement has been forgotten.
Our News Correspondent, Niall O’Connor, reveals Irish troops in Lebanon have taken shelter as Israeli shelling is hitting the southern border this evening.
Earlier, it was reported that a group of journalists, understood to be from the Reuters news agency, were hit with Israeli artillery along the border between the two countries.
Reuters confirmed this evening that one of their staff members died in the strike.
“We are deeply saddened to learn that our videographer, Issam Abdallah, has been killed.
“We are urgently seeking more information, working with authorities in the region, and supporting Issam’s family and colleagues,” the news agency said.
The biggest contingent of Irish troops in the region, 342 in total, is based in south Lebanon in Camp Shamrock in At Tiri as part of United Nations Interim Force Lebanon (UNIFIL).
There is a second Irish base with a small contingent at an outpost which is located on the Israeli border known at Camp 6-52.
The base overlooks Israeli positions a short few hundred metres away.
The troops were put into bunkers, or in to groundhog as it is known in the military, also at the nearby coastal UNIFIL headquarters at Naqoura.
Our Reuters colleague Issam Abdallah @LbIssam was killed by an Israeli airstrike in south Lebanon. Issam was the best, the funniest and the smartest. I’m in utter shock. Journalism is not a crime and targeting journalists and witnesses of history is hideous. RIP brother! pic.twitter.com/CHazNBukgT
— Mai Shams El-Din (@maishams) October 13, 2023
A statement from the Irish Defence Forces has confirmed that troops in southern Lebanon, serving with UNIFIL, have been subject to ‘GROUNDHOG’ (taking shelter in protected positions).
The Irish troops of the 122nd Infantry Battalion have remained in shelter since 2.30pm this afternoon, according to the statement.
“All Irish soldiers are accounted for and are safe. Once safe to do so they will continue to conduct planned framework operations,” it added.
The Defence Forces also confirmed that there has been “sporadic exchanges of fires across the Blue Line between Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) and Non-State Actors (NSA) in South Lebanon”.
Elsewhere, Irish troops serving with UNDOF, situated between Israel and Syria, maintain a high degree of vigilance and continue to monitor the situation. The “area of responsibility” remains “calm” at this time, according to the statement.
“The Irish personnel serving as UN Observers with UNTSO in Israel, Lebanon and Syria are maintaining a high level of vigilance and continue to monitor the situation.
“They are ALL safe and well and are complying with UN security precautions,” the statement added.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has appealed for Israel to “avert a humanitarian catastrophe” after the Israeli army ordered more than one million people to evacuate north Gaza.
“The Secretary-General and his team have been working the phones. He’s been in constant contact with Israeli authorities, urging them to avert a humanitarian catastrophe,” spokesman Stephane Dujarric told reporters.
The United Nations, the UN agency for Palestinian Refugees, the White House in the US and doctors charity group MSF have also critiqued the order from Israel.
Press Association reports that authorities in Gaza have said that 70 people, mostly women and children, have been killed in an Israeli airstrike on convoys fleeing Gaza City.
Thousands of Palestinians have fled to southern Gaza in search of refuge today after Israel warned them to evacuate before an expected ground offensive against Hamas.
Israel earlier confirmed that a number of raids inside the perimeters of the Gaza Strip have taken place over the last 24-hours. The first time the forces have admitted to having boots-on-the-ground during this conflict.
The evacuation call to get out came six days after Hamas gunmen burst through the heavily militarised border around the Gaza Strip and killed more than 1,300 people.
Nearly 1,800 Gazans – again most of them civilians and including over 580 children – have been killed in waves of missile strikes on the densely populated enclave, the health ministry said.
Amnesty International has labelled the evacuation order of the Gaza Strip “appalling” and has called on Israel to immediately rescind the order.
The human rights watchdog said the order was “an impossible demand that even the Israeli army spokesperson has admitted cannot be implemented in one day”.
“Regardless of timeframe, Israel cannot treat northern Gaza as an open-fire zone based on having issued this order. Their forces have an obligation to take all feasible precautions to minimize harm to civilians wherever they are in Gaza,” it said in a statement this afternoon.
Amnesty International’s Secretary General Agnès Callamard said Israeli forces are “setting in motion the mass forced displacement of more than 1.1 million people from Gaza city and the entire northern part of the Gaza Strip” with its motion.
“It has sowed panic among the population and left thousands of internally displaced Palestinians now sleeping on the streets, not knowing where to flee to or where they can find safety amid a relentless bombing campaign by Israel and merciless collective punishment measures.
“This order must be rescinded immediately,” she added.
The World Health Organisation (WHO) has joined Amnesty International’s calls for Israel to immediately reverse its evacuation order on the Gaza Strip.
In a statement WHO said it is joining “the wider United Nations in appealing to Israel to immediately rescind orders for the evacuation of over 1 million people living north of Wadi Gaza”.
“A mass evacuation would be disastrous—for patients, health workers and other civilians left behind or caught in the mass movement,” it added.
With dwindling supplies of safe food, clean water, health services, and without adequate shelter, children and adults, including the elderly, will all be at heightened risk of disease.”
The WHO has said the Palestinian Ministry of Health has informed them that it is “impossible to evacuate vulnerable hospital patients without endangering their lives”.
Vulnerable patients include those who are critically injured or dependent on life support. Moving them amid hostilities puts their lives at immediate risk,” it added.
The WHO reported that both of the hospitals in the North of Gaza have “greatly exceeded their combined 760-bed capacity” and is struggling to cope with “severe overcrowding”.
“Of the thousands of patients with injuries and other conditions receiving care in hospitals, there are hundreds that are severely wounded and over 100 who require critical care,” it said.
These are the sickest of the sick.”
Many thousands more, also with wounds or other health needs, cannot access any kind of care,” it added.
It’s almost a week since the conflict between Israel and Hamas began in and around the Gaza Strip.
Among the first things to happen in the conflict was the abduction of an estimated 150 Israeli, foreign and dual-national hostages by Hamas.
The situation is complicating plans for a potential ground offensive by Israel into Gaza; Hamas says it will continue to kill one hostage every time Israel bombs a civilian target in Gaza without warning, and it isn’t known where the hostages are being held.
What is known is that hostages have been taken to Gaza, where at least 13 of them have already been killed in Israeli air strikes.
Israel has cut off water, food and power supplies to Gaza in a total siege it has vowed will continue until all hostages are freed.
The Department of Foreign Affairs has revised its travel advise for Lebanon and raised its security status to ‘Do Not Travel’.
🚨 #Lebanon Travel Alert 🇱🇧
— DFATravelWise (@dfatravelwise) October 13, 2023
We have revised our #TravelAdvice for Lebanon and raised our Security Status to ‘Do Not Travel’. Full details here👇https://t.co/wKA0ydX7iu
Irish citizens in Lebanon are encouraged to register with @IRLEmbCairo: https://t.co/Tq6yithnE8@dfatirl
Prime Minister Banjamin Netanyahu has said that Israel’s fierce bombardment of Gaza was “just the beginning” of his country’s response to the Hamas attacks.
With tens of thousands of Israeli troops massed on the Gaza frontier, Netanyahu said in televised address: “Our enemies have only just started paying the price. I cannot reveal what will happen, but I am telling you this is just the beginning.”
UN chief Antonio Guterres has appealed for the protection of basic human rights as the Israel-Hamas conflict spiraled, stressing that “even wars have rules” and warning against using hostages as human shields.
“The situation in Gaza has reached a dangerous new low,” Guterres said ahead of a Security Council meeting on the volatile situation.
“We need immediate humanitarian access throughout Gaza, so that we can get fuel, food and water to everyone in need,” he said, adding that the blockaded enclave’s health system was on the brink of collapse.
A BBC journalist has been “stopped and assaulted” by Israeli police, the corporation has said.
Muhannad Tutunji, Haitham Abudiab and the BBC Arabic team were making their way to a hotel in Tel Aviv on Thursday when they were dragged from their car by police, according to BBC News.
During the stop of their car, marked with red “TV” tape, the news website reported that the pair showed their press identification cards.
Tutunji said while filming the incident, his phone was taken and thrown to the floor.
He also claims he was hit on the neck.
Today, a BBC spokesperson said: “One of our BBC News Arabic teams deployed in Tel Aviv, in a vehicle clearly marked as media, was stopped and assaulted last night by Israeli police.
“Journalists must be able to report on the conflict in Israel-Gaza freely.”
Updated death toll
Israeli strikes on Gaza since Hamas’ deadly cross-border attack have killed at least 1,900 people, including 614 children, the territory’s health ministry said this evening.
Some 370 women were among those killed in the seven days of air strikes, the Hamas-run health ministry said. It added that 7,696 people have been wounded.
German airline Lufthansa suspended its flights to and from the Lebanese capital Beirut on Friday until 16 October.
Ryanair flights to and from Tel Aviv remain cancelled up until 15 October.
That’s all from us on the liveblog tonight.
A recap on the main points today:
Includes reporting from AFP, Press Association, Diarmuid Pepper, Lauren Boland, Muiris O’Cearbhaill and Hayley Halpin
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