30 minutes ago
Top EU diplomat says Gaza City evacuation is ‘virtually impossible’
EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Josep Borrell speaks to the press as he arrives for the European Political Community Summit at the Palacio de Congreso in Granada, southern Spain, October 5, 2023.
Jorge Guerrero | Afp | Getty Images
The European Union’s top diplomat, Josep Borrell, warned that Israel’s call to evacuate the roughly 1.1 million residents of Gaza City south of the Wadi Gaza River was “virtually impossible,” echoing earlier comments by U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres.
“I fully support it @antonioguterres “Warning that Israel’s demand to evacuate a million civilians from northern Gaza through a densely populated war zone to a place without food, water or shelter in a besieged area is extremely dangerous and virtually impossible,” Borrell said on social media. He was in China on a three-day visit as the EU seeks to de-risk, but not completely decouple, its trade ties from Beijing.
The United Nations has previously condemned terrorist attacks by the Palestinian group Hamas in which Israeli civilians and nationals were killed and kidnapped. UN officials have simultaneously expressed concern about the impact of Israel’s full siege of the Gaza Strip, particularly after Israel ordered Gaza City’s roughly 1.1 million residents to evacuate south at short notice.
Several humanitarian organizations have criticized the evacuation order, saying it would worsen the existing crisis for civilians in the Gaza Strip.
On Friday, Guterres called on all parties to provide “immediate humanitarian access” as the conflict between Israel and Hamas worsens. “We need immediate humanitarian access across Gaza so we can provide fuel, food and water to all those in need.”
— Ruxandra Iordache
37 minutes ago
The Israeli military said it had thwarted infiltration and attacks from Lebanon
An image taken from the Lebanese side of the border shows an Israeli soldier patrolling the northern Israeli village of Metula on October 13, 2023.
Joseph Oath | AFP | Getty Images
The Israeli military said it responded to the Lebanese hostilities overnight with updates on the social media platform Telegram.
In an initial post, the Israel Defense Forces said it had struck a target in southern Lebanon belonging to the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah, which has been engaged in a firefight with Israel all week. The IDF said it carried out the offensive “in response to the intrusion of unidentified airborne objects into Israel” and intercepted the object and fired against its forces.
In a later update, the IDF said it had foiled a “terror cell” that attempted to enter Israeli territory from Lebanon without recognizing its loyalty.
CNBC could not independently verify the reports. The Hezbollah-affiliated channel al-Manar TV, which had previously reported on gunfire between Hezbollah and Israel, has not yet mentioned a Hezbollah invasion.
Hezbollah has previously criticized Israel’s siege of Gaza and engaged in a firefight with Israel, citing solidarity with the Palestinian people. On Friday, Hezbollah deputy chief Naim Qassem said the Lebanese group is ready to intervene in the war between Israel and Hamas and will “fulfill our duties whenever the time is right.”
Hezbollah’s leadership met on Friday with Iran’s foreign minister, which supports both the group and Hamas. Iran has praised the deadly, multi-pronged Hamas attacks on October 7 but denied involvement.
An hour ago
IDF opens new evacuation routes in Gaza for 6 hours
According to a Google translation, Israeli forces will allow traffic on two streets in Gaza between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m. local time “without harm,” the military’s Arabic-language spokesman Avichay Adraee said on X.
The IDF encouraged civilians to use the route to move south from Beit Hanoun to Khan Yunis.
—Christine Wang
2 hours ago
IDF spokesman defends evacuation order
Jonathan Conricus, spokesman for the Israel Defense Forces defended the evacuation orderHe said it would increase the security of civilians and keep them away from an area where Israel “will increase our military operations.” He reiterated that Israel had targeted Hamas and its military infrastructure.
Conricus criticized Hamas for urging civilians to ignore the evacuation order and accused the Palestinian militant group of using civilians as human shields.
—Christine Wang
2 hours ago
According to the Israel Defense Forces, over 120 civilians are being held hostage in Gaza
The Israel Defense Forces said over 120 civilians are being held prisoner in Gaza by Hamas. The military previously said it had notified the families of at least 120 people taken hostage by the Palestinian militant group.
—Christine Wang
2 hours ago
The US has not asked Israel to postpone the ground operation, an official says
A senior US official told NBC News that the US had not asked Israel to postpone its ground offensive in Gaza.
The comment contradicts a Fox News report that Washington had asked to postpone the operation until safe passage could be secured for the evacuation of Palestinians.
A State Department official said Friday that the U.S. believes Israel is trying to minimize harm to civilians and that its military has the right to respond with operations it deems necessary.
—Christine Wang
2 hours ago
The evacuation deadline passes with no sign of an Israeli ground offensive
Israel’s deadline for evacuating the northern Gaza Strip has now expired.
The military is expected to launch a ground offensive in the region after massing troops on the border last week. Although Israel never confirmed such plans, the 24-hour announcement to evacuate 1.1 million Palestinians raised concerns that it would begin a new phase in its efforts to wipe out Hamas’s military capabilities.
—Christine Wang
10 hours ago
“There is no place to hide from the bombs”: Civilians trapped in Gaza cannot escape Israeli siege
Palestinians flee with their belongings to safer areas in Gaza City after Israeli air strikes on October 13, 2023.
Mohammed Abed | AFP | Getty Images
In the Gaza Strip, a small strip of land sealed off with concrete walls and barbed wire fences and whose last remaining border crossings are closed, survival is increasingly becoming a game of chance.
“It’s crazy and brutal – I can’t believe they would do this to the entire population. The number of airstrikes is enormous,” Omar, a Gazan aid worker with two young children, told CNBC via voice note. “We’re doing well at the moment, but it’s very scary and with every bomb we feel like it’s our turn.” Out of concern for his family, Omar asked that only his first name be used.
Without bomb shelters, people try to hide in hallways, away from windows, in schools or even on the street next to piles of rubble. But even these places are not safe, say Palestinians in Gaza.
Read the whole story here.
—Natasha Turak
8 hours ago
Palestinians evacuate from the northern Gaza Strip
Palestinian women walk with children and belongings while fleeing an area after an Israeli airstrike in Rafah, southern Gaza Strip, October 13, 2023.
Said Khatib | Afp | Getty Images
Palestinians leave Gaza City with their belongings, fleeing their homes after the Israeli army issued a warning on October 13, 2023.
Mahmoud Hams | Afp | Getty Images
Family rides a donkey-drawn cart and flees along with hundreds of other Palestinians carrying their belongings following the Israeli army’s warning to leave their homes and move south ahead of an expected ground offensive, in Gaza City on March 13 October 2023.
Mahmoud Hams | Afp | Getty Images
Palestinians crowd a street in Gaza City with their belongings as they flee their homes following the Israeli army’s warning, October 13, 2023.
Mahmoud Hams | AFP | Getty Images
Entire families fled the northern Gaza Strip in cars, trucks, donkey carts and on foot after the Israeli military ordered 1.1 million people to evacuate ahead of an expected ground invasion.
The United Nations has demanded that “Israel immediately lift its order for 1.1 million Palestinians to leave the northern Gaza Strip within 24 hours and condemns the evacuation order as a crime against humanity and a flagrant violation of international humanitarian law.”
“Forced population transfers constitute a crime against humanity and collective punishment is prohibited under international humanitarian law,” said Paula Gaviria Betancur, Special Rapporteur on the human rights of internally displaced persons. “We are horrified at the prospect that another million Palestinians will join the more than 423,000 people who have already been forcibly displaced from their homes by last week’s violence.”
Israel has not yet said anything about the timing of the invasion.
According to a statement released by Hamas, three evacuation convoys in Gaza were hit by strikes, killing 70 people. NCB News reported.
According to official estimates from both sides, at least 1,300 people in Israel and 1,900 people in Gaza were killed as a result of the Israel-Hamas war.
— Riya Bhattacharjee
4 hours ago