Eight days after Hamas’ unprecedented attack on its territory, Israel continued its preparations for an offensive in the northern Gaza Strip on Sunday, October 15, after giving residents additional time to evacuate the area on Saturday. Pending the ground offensive, the Israeli army on Friday called on the 1.1 million civilians in the north of the territory to move to the south of the Palestinian enclave. However, an army spokesman assured on Saturday evening that the ground offensive would not begin on Sunday for humanitarian reasons. Follow our live stream.
The toll continues to rise. Palestinian authorities are reporting 2,329 deaths in the Gaza Strip, according to a new report released Sunday morning. In total, more than 1,300 buildings were destroyed in this 362 km² area, the United Nations said. On the Israeli side, at least 1,300 people, mostly civilians, died in Hamas attacks, according to the Israeli army.
The World Health Organization “condemns” the evacuation order for residents of the northern Gaza Strip. The evacuation of “22 hospitals treating more than 2,000 patients in the north of the Gaza Strip” to overwhelmed facilities in the south of the territory “could amount to a death sentence,” the facility warned Saturday evening.
Three new special flights on Sunday to repatriate French nationals from Tel Aviv. “Vulnerable people, in particular unaccompanied minors and pregnant women, with disabilities or in a medical situation constituting a particular emergency, will have priority on specially organized flights,” explains the French Foreign Ministry. Since Thursday, four flights have been set up for a total of almost 1,200 passengers.
France is worried “regional escalation” of violence. The Lebanese and the Hezbollah group must “stay away from the conflict” between Israel and Hamas to “prevent the opening of a second front in the region,” the Elysee Palace said on Saturday. The French presidency considers the tense situation on the border between Lebanon and Israel to be “very worrying”. Paris also called on Iran, a supporter of Hezbollah, not to “increase tensions.”