TEL AVIV: Israel is preparing a massive ground assault in the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip after the deadline that Israel’s military had given northern Gaza residents to evacuate to the south expired.
Israel has vowed to annihilate the Hamas militant group that controls Gaza in retaliation for a rampage by its fighters, who stormed through Israeli towns on Oct. 7, killing 1,300 civilians and taking dozens of hostages in the worst attack on civilians in Israel’s history.
The Israel Defense Forces, or IDF, have saturated the border with thousands of reservists, troops and military equipment amid a relentless onslaught on the territory.
So far, Israeli strikes have killed about 1,900 Palestinians, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry.
Meanwhile, the humanitarian crisis is mounting in Gaza as Palestinians scrambled Saturday to evacuate from the northern part of the tiny Gaza Strip and head south before an expected Israeli military offensive.
Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian warned Israel to stop its attacks on Gaza as soon as possible because they might lead to a widening of the war to other parts of the Middle East, if Hezbollah joins the battle. That would make Israel suffer “a huge earthquake.”
U.S. President Joe Biden called Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and reiterated the “unwavering” U.S. support for Israel and warned against anyone “seeking to expand the conflict,” a White House statement read. Biden also updated Netanyahu on U.S. military support to Israel.
Later Saturday, U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin said in a statement that the U.S. was sending a second carrier strike group, the USS Eisenhower, to the eastern Mediterranean. It would join the USS Gerald R. Ford carrier strike group, which arrived earlier this week.
“The increases to U.S. force posture signal the United States’ ironclad commitment to Israel’s security and our resolve to deter any state or non-state actor seeking to escalate this war,” Austin said in a statement.
Also Saturday, Russia asked the U.N. Security Council to vote Monday on a draft resolution on the Israel-Hamas conflict that calls for a humanitarian cease-fire and condemns violence against civilians and all acts of terrorism.
Russia’s Deputy U.N. Ambassador Dmitry Polyanskiy said he expected the vote to be scheduled for 3 p.m. EDT on Monday.
(VOA)
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