The Israeli Defence Forces or the IDF has announced a three-hour window for citizens of Gaza to evacuate from northern Gaza. They said close to 1.1 million people living in the region can use the evacuation from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m.
The IDF has said that no military activity will take place in the area, for the duration. This comes about a week after Israel announced a blockade around north Gaza, cutting off food, water, electricity, medical supplies and other essentials including electricity. UN chief Antonio Guterres has “been in constant contact with Israeli authorities urging them to avert a humanitarian catastrophe,” a spokesperson for Guterres, Stephen Dujarric told AP.
Lt. Col. Jonathan Conricus, spoke to CNN and talked about the extensive network of tunnels within the Gaza Strip. He also said that the 150-200 individuals taken hostage by Hamas militants are likely located in subterranean hideouts in various areas.
Residents of Gaza City and northern Gaza, in the past days, we've urged you to relocate to the southern area for your safety. We want to inform you that the IDF will not carry out any operations along this route from 10 AM to 1 PM. During this window, please take the opportunity… pic.twitter.com/JUkcGOg0yv
— Israel Defense Forces (@IDF) October 15, 2023
“Residents of Gaza City and northern Gaza, in the past days, we've urged you to relocate to the southern area for your safety. We want to inform you that the IDF will not carry out any operations along this route from 10 AM to 1 PM. During this window, please take the opportunity to move southward from northern Gaza,” IDF wrote on X.
The Israeli Forces are preparing for a coordinated attack on the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip on Sunday. In the Israel-Hamas war, over 1,300 people have lost their lives on the Israeli side, while, 2,200 have been killed in Gaza.
Israel, in the meantime, is fending off attacks by the Hezbollah in Lebanon. On Sunday, a missile fired from south Lebanon hit the Israeli village of Shutla on its northern border, killing one and injuring three, a Reuters report reads. The Israeli army has said that it is retaliating.
After the IDF said that it struck a target in southern Lebanon belonging to the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah, it said that they had thwarted a “terrorist cell” that sought to enter Israeli territory from Lebanon, a CNBC report reads. The Hezbollah has exchanged fire with Israel, citing solidarity with the Palestinian people.
Iran’s Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian, on Saturday, called on Israel to stop its attacks on Gaza, warning that the war might expand to other parts of the Middle East if Hezbollah joins the battle, and that would make Israel suffer “a huge earthquake,” AP reported.
Deputy chief of Hezbollah, Naim Qassem, on Friday, said that the group is prepared to intervene in the war between Israel and Hamas. The Hezbollah, on Saturday, said that it targeted five Israeli outposts in the disputed Shebaa Farms area on with guided missiles and mortars shells, Reuters reported.
