DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip — Palestinians scrambled to flee northern Gaza on Saturday, Oct. 14, 2023, after Israel ordered nearly half the population to flee south and carried out limited ground forays ahead of an expected land offensive, as the war appeared set to escalate a week after Hamas’ bloody, wide-ranging attack into Israel.
Israel has ordered some one million people to flee, including the entire population of Gaza City, despite warnings from the United Nations (UN) and aid groups that such an exodus would cause untold human suffering, with hospital patients and others unable to relocate.
Families in cars, trucks and donkey carts packed with their possessions crowded a main road heading southward from Gaza City as Israeli airstrikes continued to hammer the besieged territory. Hamas’ media office said warplanes struck cars fleeing south, killing more than 70 people.
The Israeli military said its troops conducted temporary raids into Gaza to battle militants and hunted for traces of some 150 people — including men, women and children — abducted in Hamas’ Oct. 7 assault on southern Israel
In urging the evacuation, Israel’s military said it planned to target underground Hamas hideouts around Gaza City. But Palestinians and some Egyptian officials fear that Israel ultimately aims to push Gaza’s people out through the southern border with Egypt.
The UN called on Israel to reverse the unprecedented directive.
Hamas told people to ignore the evacuation order.
Families in Gaza faced agonizing dilemmas in deciding whether to leave or stay, with no safe ground anywhere.
Israeli strikes have leveled entire city blocks, and Gaza has been sealed off from food, water and medical supplies — all under a virtual total power blackout.
The Gaza Health Ministry said Friday, Oct. 13, that roughly 1,900 people have been killed in the territory. The Hamas assault killed more than 1,300 Israelis, most of whom were civilians, and roughly 1,500 Hamas militants were killed during the fighting, the Israeli government said.