Israel-Hamas war: Deadline to evacuate northern Gaza Strip closes in

The World Health Organisation has said the forced evacuation of severely ill or badly injured people from hospitals in northern Gaza would amount to a “death sentence” for some.

WHO spokesman Tarik Jasarevic told a United Nations briefing in Geneva on Friday that the two major hospitals in northern Gaza have already exceeded their combined 760-bed capacity, and warned of a shortage of blood in hospital blood banks across Gaza.

Furthermore, several medications are in short supply, including for diabetes, seizures and asthma, as well as painkillers and dialysis solutions.

In general, “hospital corridors are overflowing. Dead bodies are piling up as there is no more space in morgues”, he said.

Jasarevic said some patients — many of whom are children — were on life support systems like mechanical ventilators, “so moving those people is a death sentence. Asking health workers to do so is beyond cruel.”

A rabbi working on a Football Association faith group has resigned over the governing body’s response to the Hamas attacks on Israeli citizens last weekend:

An entire Bedouin village in the West Bank packed up and evacuated their home on Thursday, a leading Palestinian rights group says.

With the evacuation of Wadi Seeq, six villages in the West Bank have entirely pulled up stakes this year. Dror Sadot, a spokesperson for the rights group Btselem, said that many more villages were in danger of leaving.

“The settlers are going crazy and receive active backing from the army, now more than ever before,” said Rabbi Arik Ascherman, the executive director of Torah of Justice, an Israeli human-rights non-profit organisation.

Rabbi Ascherman said that in recent days, Jewish settlers from nearby outposts descended from hilltop outposts to brutalise Palestinians in the village, even as they packed up.

Israeli authorities did not immediately respond to requests to comment.

Oxfam said suggestions that Israel had told Palestinians in the north of Gaza to evacuate were “utterly inhumane” as it called for Tel Aviv to “immediately recall this order” and end its siege.

Amitabh Behar, international executive director at the British aid charity, said: “The world can see that this evacuation order is both utterly inhumane and impossible; the Israeli government must rescind it immediately.

“We implore the international community to use its utmost influence to intervene – there are hospitals full of patients, women, children and elderly people who cannot move. Even for those who could move, there is no food, no water and little shelter. This must be stopped.

“Oxfam staff are sending us terrifying messages; they are sheltering in their homes or displaced with their extended families, some trying to find safety in hospitals that have already been damaged by air strikes.

“They are in darkness, pleading to know what is happening. One last message received told us ‘Please pray for us, and forgive us if we don’t end up making it through this tough time’.

“It is incumbent upon Israel to obey international humanitarian law; they must distinguish between military and civilian targets. We call on it to immediately recall this order and allow humanitarian aid into Gaza.”

Footage has shown crowds gathered for pro-Palestine protests in Qatar.

Protests in Gulf countries have taken place throughout the day, inlcuding in Iraq and Jordan.

Rishi Sunak has condemned the “disgusting” rise in antisemitic incidents in the wake of Hamas’s attacks on Israel.
The prime minister said he had met with police chiefs and charity the Community Security Trust to ensure Jewish communities in the UK feel safe.
He said: “There’s been a, quite frankly, disgusting rise in antisemitic incidents over the past few days. That’s not right. We have provided extra funding to the Community Security Trust to make sure that Jewish institutions – whether that’s synagogue or schools – have all the protection they need and the police have all the support that they need to ensure that our streets are safe for people from all communities.
“Because we will absolutely not tolerate people inciting hatred, or violence, or racist activity, intimidating or threatening behaviour will not be tolerated. It will be met with the full force of the law.”
The PM was asked whether waving Palestinian flags or saying “free Palestine” in public could be considered criminal. He said: “There’s very clear guidance for the police about the measures that they can take, but inciting violence, racial hatred is illegal.
“People who are acting in an abusive or threatening manner causing distress are breaking the law.”

Lebanon’s Iran-backed Hezbollah have said they are “fully prepared” to join the war against Israel.

Hezbollah deputy chief Naim Qassem told a pro-Palestine rally in the southern suburb of the Lebanese capital of Beirut that if the opportunity presents itself to intervene, they “will take it”.

“We are fully prepared, and when the time comes for action, we will take it,” he said.

A Turkish military plane with humanitarian aid for Palestinians in Gaza has arrived in Egypt, the Turkish Red Crescent said on Friday, as President Tayyip Erdogan called rights violations against civilians in the enclave “unacceptable”.

“The first plane loaded with your aid has landed. The aid supplies that were procured for Gaza with your donations and which arrived in Egypt are being loaded onto trucks at Al Arish airport,” the Turkish Red Crescent – known as Kizilay – said on social messaging platform X.

It did not say what supplies were included in the aid, but state broadcaster TRT Haber reported that the shipment included food and medical supplies, adding it would be carried into Gaza via Egypt’s Rafah crossing.

Images of the aid being unloaded at Al Arish airport, shared by Kizilay on X, showed boxes covered with the logo of Turkey’s AFAD disaster management authority, and Turkish and Palestinian flags. AFAD did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment.

Turkey has offered to mediate in the unprecedented clashes between Israel and Islamist militant group Hamas, which urged Gaza residents not to heed an Israeli warning to relocate south on Friday ahead of an expected ground invasion that risks high casualties.

Ankara has also backed the Palestinian cause and hosts Hamas members, while supporting a two-state solution to Israel and the Palestinians’ rival territorial claims.