Israel readies troops for invasion as Gaza civilians flee

Gaza Strip, Palestinian Territories – AFP

Israel pummelled northern Gaza with fresh air strikes on Saturday, forcing Palestinians to flee the area before an expected ground offensive.

AFP reporters near the southern Israeli city of Sderot saw troops fire at the densely populated enclave, sending huge plumes of black smoke into the sky.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, wearing a flak jacket, meanwhile visited troops on the border frontline, raising expectations of an imminent invasion.

“Are you ready for what is coming? More is coming,” he is heard telling several soldiers on a video released by his office.

With food, water, fuel and medical supplies running low because of an Israeli blockade, aid agencies are warning of an impending humanitarian crisis.

– War crimes –

Exiled Hamas chief Ismail Haniyeh accused Israel on Saturday of committing “war crimes” in Gaza and blocking the supply of much-needed aid.

In a letter to United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, posted on the group’s website, he called Israel’s cutting off of electricity, water and fuel supplies “barbaric”.

But he ruled out any “displacement” of Gazans, including to Egypt.

– Safe passage –

Israeli military spokesman Richard Hecht urged civilians in northern Gaza not to delay in getting out, with a “window” for safe passage between 10:00 am and 4:00 pm.

He did not say how many days the window would remain open.

Gazans, who cannot leave the enclave as it is blockaded by both Israel and Egypt, have packed what belongings they can into bags and suitcases, to trudge through the rubble-strewn streets.

A stream of cars, trucks, three-wheeled vehicles and donkey-drawn carts joined the frantic mass movement south, all loaded with families and their belongings, mattresses, bedding and bags strapped onto the roofs of packed vehicles.

Roads in the 40-kilometre (25-mile) long territory were jammed. But putting distance between people and the bombings had not dispelled fear.

“We wake up to the killing and death under the bombs,” said Mohamed Abu Ali, who lives in Gaza.

“We don’t know where to go, where is safe. We have no food, water or electricity,” he added.

International aid agencies, including the UN and Red Cross, plus several foreign diplomats have voiced concern about the feasibility of the evacuation plan.

“We fear an unprecedented humanitarian catastrophe,” said Ivan Karakashian, of the Norwegian Refugee Council.

According to the UN, more than 1,300 buildings in Gaza have been destroyed, while local hospitals and their exhausted staff have become overwhelmed with growing numbers of dead and injured.

‘I am a refugee and they want to displace me yet again’ 

“What does the world want from us?” asked one Palestinian resident, Mohamed Khaled, 43. “I am a refugee in Gaza and they want to displace me yet again?”

Hamas has threatened to kill the Israelis and others it took prisoners during its attack one by one for every unannounced Israeli air strike.

A total of 22 have already been killed in Israeli bombardments, the group said.

Egypt and Israel have agreed to let US citizens leave the Gaza Strip through the Rafah crossing, a US official accompanying Secretary of State Antony Blinken on a regional tour told reporters.

But it was not immediately clear when the plan would be implemented.

– ‘Genocide’ –

Palestinian prime minister Mohammad Shtayyeh accused Israel of “genocide” in Gaza, while clashes in the occupied West Bank have killed 53 Palestinians in the past week.

Angry protests condemning Israel and supporting the Palestinians in Gaza took place across the Muslim world on Friday.

More took place in New York on Friday night, and London on Saturday, where protesters waved Palestinian flags and placards with slogans such as “Freedom for Palestine” and “End the massacre”.

“I think all just people around the world, not just in Britain, must stand up and call for this madness (to end),” Ismail Patel, chairman of the Friends of Al-Aqsa campaign, told AFP.