ESCALATION IN-THE-WORKS: “The United Nations and its Member States must intensify efforts to mediate an immediate ceasefire between the parties, before we reach a point of no return."

 “We are preparing for the next stages," IDF spokesman Lt. Col. Richard Hecht said on Saturday.

Thousands Flee Gaza as Deadline to Get Out Expires

ESCALATION COMING

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu visited troops on Saturday, saying “You ready for the next stage? The next stage is coming.”

Benjamin Netanyahu/X

Justin Rohrlich

Reporter

Updated Oct. 14, 2023 1:05PM EDT / Published Oct. 14, 2023 12:25PM EDT  

Thousands of people living in northern Gaza fled south on Saturday before the six-hour evacuation window ordered by Israel ended at 4 p.m. local time. Meanwhile, as the U.N. warns Israel and Hamas to halt their week-old war before things “reach a point of no return,” the Palestinian militant group claimed additional hostages it is holding in Gaza were killed in Israeli air strikes.

“The situation in the occupied Palestinian territory and Israel has reached fever pitch,” the United Nations said in a statement from Geneva. “The United Nations and its Member States must intensify efforts to mediate an immediate ceasefire between the parties, before we reach a point of no return.

Over the past week, some 400,000 Palestinians had already been internally displaced, according to U.N. figures.

The U.S. government has advised its citizens feeling Gaza to move south toward the Rafah border crossing with Egypt to be ready for its possible reopening.

“We have been trying to facilitate access for it to be open from 12 to five today. The Egyptians, the Israelis and the Qataris have been working with us on that,” Reuters reported the official as telling journalists traveling with U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken.

Hamas announced that nine hostages being held in Gaza, including four unidentified foreigners, were killed in Israeli air strikes. On Friday, Hamas said nine hostages had been killed by Israeli bombing runs. The claims have thus far been impossible to verify. However, Israeli jets over the past seven days have dropped massive amounts of ordnance on Gaza, killing more than 1,900 people, according to Palestinian authorities.

“We are preparing for the next stages," IDF spokesman Lt. Col. Richard Hecht said on Saturday.

In a Saturday visit to Israeli troops massed near the Gaza border, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told the soldiers, “You ready for the next stage? The next stage is coming.” Neither one specified what the next phase of Israel’s response to Hamas will look like. However, analysts and experts believe a ground invasion is imminent.

“With our fighters in the Gaza Strip, on the front line,” Netanyahu captioned a video posted on X (formerly Twitter). “We are all ready.”

In leaflets and announcements on social media, the Israeli military on Saturday instructed about 1.1 million Gazans in the north to leave their homes, and cut off all air, land, and sea routes in and out. Electricity in northern Gaza has been shut off, the internet has gone dark, and clean water is reportedly scarce. Amid the chaos, Israel Defense Forces jets have relentlessly pounded the area since a surprise attack last Saturday by armed Hamas militants left some 1,300 people dead.
During the incursion, Hamas also kidnapped more than 100 people, among them a number of dual citizens and foreign nationals. Earlier this week, the group threatened to kill a hostage every time Israel struck Gaza “without warning.” And although several hostages have been reported dead, the precise circumstances surrounding their deaths is not yet known.
Hamas, which is backed by Iran, has been designated a terrorist organization by the U.S. But Iranian leaders have denied any involvement in last Saturday’s attack.
“Some supporters and some individuals from the occupying regime have made false claims in recent days blaming Iran for these actions,” Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said Tuesday at a military academy graduation ceremony in Tehran. “They are mistaken. We defend Palestine; we support the designers and intelligent youth of Palestine, but these are the works of Palestinians themselves.”
The scene on the ground on Saturday was chaotic, according to the Associated Press. Families driving cars, trucks, and donkey carts took to the main road out of Gaza City, desperately trying to find a safe place to stay, the news agency reported. Life has very quickly become almost unbearable for many; one 25-year-old expectant mother said she has had so little to drink, she urinates only every two days. In certain areas, the water coming out of people’s taps is now mixed with seawater. Still, people have no choice but to drink it, 28-year-old Mohammed Ibrahim told the AP.
At least 70 evacuees were killed by Israeli jets fired on a group of vehicles driving south, according to The New York Times. The paper quoted a 56-year-old Palestinian doctor in Gaza City who said she was concerned the evacuation could portend a more permanent situation.