(Reuters) – Thousands of Palestinians fled the northern Gaza Strip on Saturday ahead of an expected Israeli ground assault, while Israel said it kept two roads open to let people escape.
The Israeli military said its forces were preparing to implement a range of operational offensive plans “with an emphasis on significant ground operations”.
Israel has said it will annihilate the Hamas militant group that controls Gaza in retaliation for a rampage by its fighters, who stormed through Israeli towns a week ago, gunning down civilians and making off with scores of hostages. Some 1,300 people were killed in the worst attack on civilians in Israel’s history.
CONFLICT
* Hostilities with Lebanese Hezbollah in parallel with the Gaza war appeared to be restrained, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s national security adviser said, warning the group not to take action that could lead to Lebanon’s “destruction”.
* Palestinians will not leave Gaza or the West Bank to migrate to Egypt, Hamas’ leader said. Calls for a humanitarian corridor or an escape route for Palestinians from Gaza have drawn a blunt reaction from Arab neighbours: They should stay on their land. This reflects deep Arab fears that Israel’s latest war with Hamas in Gaza could spark a new wave of permanent displacement from land where Palestinians want to build a future state.
* The Israeli army said it is investigating an incident in southern Lebanon in which a Reuters journalist was killed on Friday. A Reuters witness at the scene has said he was struck by missiles fired from the direction of Israel.
* Israeli shelling struck a Lebanese army observation post at the border, three sources in Lebanon told Reuters, after the Israeli military warned of a suspected armed infiltration that it said it was responding to with artillery fire.
SUPPORT
* The U.S. government advised its citizens in Gaza to move south toward the Rafah border crossing with Egypt to be ready for its possible reopening.
* New aid flights arrived in the Sinai Peninsula where relief materials are being held until an agreement is reached for delivery into the nearby Gaza Strip, a Red Crescent official and an aid volunteer said.
THE HUMAN COST
* Bakeries in Gaza are running out of bread, drinking water is in short supply and power outages have left families without charged phones to find out if fleeing relatives are safe.
* Jewish and Palestinian Muslim communities in the United States remain on edge. Friday services, highlighted by the main weekly prayers for Muslims and the start of the Jewish Sabbath at sundown, were the first since the massacre. Mosques and synagogues beefed up security as tension ran high in both communities.
(Reporting by Robert MacMillan; editing by Giles Elgood)
