Date October 13, 2023 Save Saved Download PDF Share
Number of victims. The latest estimates at 8:00 a.m. (Madrid time):
- 1,200 Israelis were killed and 2,400 wounded.
- 1,537 Palestinians were killed and 6,612 injured.
- The number of internally displaced people in the Gaza Strip has risen to over 423,000, according to United Nations figures announced overnight.
The front and the fighting.
- The Israeli military has called on Palestinians to evacuate civilians from Gaza City to the south within the next 24 hours. The stated target is the area south of the Wadi Gaza River. According to the United Nations, 1.1 million residents in the northern Gaza Strip are affected by the evacuation call. Israel Defense Forces said the evacuation was necessary for civilians “for their own safety” and urged them to “stay away from Hamas terrorists who are using them as human shields.”
- The Israel Defense Forces also reported in a statement that it carried out airstrikes last night against “750 military targets” in the northern Gaza Strip.
The internal situation.
- The question “all Israelis ask themselves,” as Milan Czerny wrote, about the failure of the intelligence services and the army in the face of the Hamas attack on Saturday morning is still relevant. According to the American media company Axios, information about irregular Hamas activities became known before the attack, but this did not lead to a corresponding alert at the border; The army and the secret services have not yet commented on this information.
International reactions.
- A meeting between US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas is scheduled for Friday.
- According to the Russian press agency Tass, the Russian Foreign Minister condemned Thursday’s Israeli attacks on the airports of Damascus and Aleppo in Syria. According to the agency, he warned that “such military actions are fraught with extremely dangerous consequences, as they could lead to armed escalation throughout the region.”
- The President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, and the President of the European Parliament, Roberta Metsola, are also visiting Israel today. The foreign ministers of Germany and Italy have also announced that they will visit Israel.
While the issue of creating a humanitarian corridor has been discussed for several days – particularly with the United States – Egyptian President Al-Sissi said yesterday that Palestinians in the Gaza Strip must “remain on their territory,” according to the New York Times. He also promised to enable the delivery of medical and humanitarian assistance. These statements were made before the Israeli army called for the evacuation of the Gaza Strip this morning.