A week after Hamas’ attack on Israel, countless residents of the Gaza Strip fled south to the coastal area for fear of an Israeli ground offensive. The Israeli army called on the population to quickly leave the north of the Gaza Strip. The military also announced the assassination of two senior Hamas commanders who were partially responsible for the major attack on Israel.
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One of them, Ali Kadi, as commander of an elite unit, led the attack by armed fighters on towns in southern Israel a week ago, it was said. Kadi was arrested in 2005 following the kidnapping and murder of Israelis and was released as part of the deal to free Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit, who was held hostage by Hamas for several years.
According to the army, the other Hamas leader was the head of the Palestinian organization’s “air activities”, Murad Abu Murad. Hamas did not initially confirm the deaths of its two leaders.
Israel: Hundreds of thousands fled south
On Friday morning, the Israeli army asked around 1.1 million civilians in the northern Gaza Strip to leave the southern area. She justified this call with military operations planned for the coming days. On Saturday afternoon, Israel promised people safe passage along two safe escape routes to the south of the Gaza Strip. It was not clear whether this should also apply for more days. According to Israel, hundreds of thousands of people have already headed south.
The United Nations called on Israel to revoke the order. There is a threat of a “catastrophic situation”. Harsh criticism also came from EU Foreign Affairs Commissioner Josep Borrell. The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestinian Refugees (UNRWA) has warned in stark terms of a potentially fatal water shortage for the population of the Gaza Strip due to the Israeli blockade.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned that the week-long strikes – mainly airstrikes – were “just the beginning”. The Army said Israeli ground forces carried out only “localized” attacks in the Gaza Strip over the past 24 hours “to clear the area of terrorists and weapons” and to find “missing people.”
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