According to the Israeli military, more than 600,000 residents of the northern Gaza Strip headed south on Sunday night. The army announced in the evening that evacuations continued. In this context, Israel confirmed US information that the water pipelines in the south of the Gaza Strip had returned to operation.
This will help the civilian population to clear the north of the coastal enclave and move south, as the army wanted, Israeli Energy Minister Israel Katz wrote on Twitter (X). Israel’s military could step up its destruction of Hamas’ Islamic infrastructure in the northern Gaza Strip, Katz said.
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An Israeli army spokesman also stated that, as suggested in a media report, unfavorable weather conditions were not behind the postponement of the ground offensive in the Gaza Strip. On the contrary, Arie Scharus Schalicar indicated to ARD that even more Palestinian civilians should arrive in the south of the Gaza Strip so that they would not be put in danger in a ground offensive in the north of the coastal strip – and that this was one of the main reasons for the postponement.
Diplomatic tug of war over Rafah opening
Israel had already linked basic supplies to the civilian population in the Gaza Strip to the release of Israeli hostages held by the terrorist organization. However, the United Nations has called on Israel to allow it to provide food, water, medicine and fuel to people in the isolated area.
In recent days, the US government has campaigned to protect the civilian population in the Palestinian territory. “We stand for the protection of civilians and want to ensure that innocent Palestinians who have nothing to do with Hamas can get to safe areas where they are protected from bombings and have access to essential goods such as food, water, shelter and medicine,” Counselor US President Joe Biden’s security guard Jake Sullivan said on US television on Sunday.
Gaza: the humanitarian situation is deteriorating
Hundreds of thousands of people have recently fled the northern Gaza Strip to the southern coastal area. And at least there, the water supply should partially work again. Israel mourns the victims of the Hamas attack.
In this context, the focus of diplomatic efforts has recently been the Rafah border crossing, which connects Egypt to the Gaza Strip. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken announced an imminent opening on Sunday. Foreigners will be able to leave the Gaza Strip as early as Monday, as Egyptian circles familiar with the matter suggested on Sunday. Around 1,000 people are affected – including around three dozen Austrians, according to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Graphics: APA/ORF; Source: OCHA
Aid convoys waiting to enter
There is also talk of opening the border crossing soon for relief supplies. On the Egyptian side, countless trucks loaded with humanitarian aid have been waiting for days to enter – at the same time, the situation of the population in the Gaza Strip is becoming increasingly precarious. The United Nations World Food Program (WFP) warned on Sunday about a lack of supplies.
According to reports, several stores and businesses had to close because there was no longer electricity in the Gaza Strip. In addition to energy, bakeries also lack water and flour. “We have managed to help 520,000 people in Gaza so far, but we are running out of supplies, we are unable to take or take anything and we cannot guarantee the safety of our people,” said the WFP Executive Director. Cindy McCain said, according to CNN.
The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestinian Refugees (UNRWA) now estimates that the number of displaced people in the Gaza Strip is around one million. The real number of internally displaced people is likely even higher, according to UNRWA, which also described the situation in the Gaza Strip as an “unprecedented human catastrophe.”
Cupal (ORF) on the postponed land offensive
ORF correspondent Tim Cupal reports, among other things, why Israel’s ground offensive could have been delayed.
Clear words from UN chief Guterres
Clear words also came from the head of the United Nations Office for Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), Martin Griffiths, on Sunday. As he announced via Twitter (X), the “spectre of death” hangs over Gaza. Without water, electricity, food and medicine, says Griffith, thousands of people will die “plain and simple”. Griffiths warned the previous day that the humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip, “already critical, could quickly become unsustainable”.
The specter of death is looming #Gaza.
Without water, without energy, without food and without medicine, thousands of people will die.
Clear and simple.
-Martin Griffiths (@UNReliefChief) October 15, 2023
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres also appealed to Hamas and Israel that hostages and humanitarian aid should not be used as bargaining chips. The UN chief demanded that Hamas immediately and unconditionally release the hostages held in the Gaza Strip. Israel must, however, allow humanitarian aid and aid organizations to enter the Gaza Strip quickly and without interruption.
Response to Hamas massacres
The Israeli army called on civilians in the northern Gaza Strip to flee on Friday morning. The army reiterated on Sunday that it would not carry out any attacks on a route from the north of the Gaza Strip within three hours so that residents in the south of the Palestinian territory could reach safety. Israel accuses Hamas of blocking the escape of civilians and using them as “human shields”.
The terrorist organization launched a major attack on Israel on Saturday last week. He fired thousands of rockets and invaded Israel with hundreds of fighters. According to Sunday, more than 1,400 people were killed on the Israeli side.
In response, the Israeli army placed the Gaza Strip under constant fire and completely isolated the Palestinian territory. Imports of fuel, food and drinking water were stopped. According to Palestinian information, more than 2,760 people have been killed and more than 9,600 injured in the coastal strip since then. According to the Palestinian civil protection agency in the Gaza Strip, more than 1,000 people are missing under the rubble of destroyed buildings.
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Worry about a new escalation
US fears direct intervention from Iran
Signs of escalation continue to point to an escalation on the border with Lebanon. Recently, there has been an increase in fighting between the Iranian-backed Hezbollah militia and Israeli forces. According to the White House, the US fears a new escalation and, in this context, direct intervention by Iran.
White House National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan spoke on CBS on Sunday about a possible new front on the Israel-Lebanon border, adding: “We cannot rule out the possibility of Iran directly interfering in some way.”
“Resistance front can defend itself”
According to its own statements, the Israeli army again attacked Hezbollah targets in Lebanon on Sunday night. Hours earlier, the pro-Iranian Hezbollah militia had attacked targets in the neighboring country. The rocket fire at Israel was “a warning” and “retaliation for Israeli actions,” according to sources close to the Shiite organization. But this does not mean that Hezbollah has entered the conflict.
According to its own statements, the government in Tehran would only take military action against Israel if the country attacked “Iran, its interests and citizens”. “The resistance front can defend itself,” the Iranian UN mission at UN headquarters in New York said, according to Portal.