Gazans flee homes as Israeli ground offensive looms

Israel warned Palestinians on Saturday to get out of the northern Gaza Strip before an expected large-scale ground offensive against Hamas, one week on from the deadliest attack in Israeli history.

Troops, tanks and heavy weaponry were massed at the border in anticipation of strikes against leaders of the Islamist group, whose fighters gunned down, stabbed and burned to death over 1,300 people after breaking through the heavily fortified border.

On the Gazan side, health officials said more than 2,200 people had been killed -- most of them civilians, as on the Israeli side -- as concerns grew about the humanitarian situation in the besieged enclave as food, fuel supplies and medicines ran low.

Saudi Arabia called for an "immediate ceasefire", while the United States called on China to use its regional influence to broker urgent peace talks.

The Israeli military has been pounding the besieged territory with thousands of missiles since last Saturday's deadly dawn raid, which has been likened to the 9/11 attacks in the United States.

One air strike killed Ali Qadi, described as "a company commander of the Hamas 'Nukhba' commando force" involved in the unprecedented attack, the army said.

"Localised" raids have also taken place, as Israeli troops encircle the Gaza Strip, said army spokesman Jonathan Conricus.

"We will likely evolve into additional significant combat operations," he added. "When we do so, remember how this started... All of this is Hamas-made."

Some 1.1 million people -- nearly half the population of 2.4 million -- live in the north of Gaza, and aid agencies have said forcing them to move is an impossibility as the war rages.

Hamas chief Ismail Haniyeh accused Israel on Saturday of committing "war crimes" in Gaza and blocking the supply of humanitarian aid.

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

Israel has vowed to destroy Hamas, which several Western governments, including the United States. have proscribed as a terrorist organisation, and likened to the Islamic State group.

But it maintains that ordinary Palestinians are not their target, which is why they had requested them to leave.

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.

AFP reporters on the outskirts of the southern Israeli city of Sderot saw troops hit northern Gaza with fresh air strikes on Saturday -- the Jewish Sabbath -- sending huge plumes of dense black smoke into the sky.

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.

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

Arab League chief Ahmed Abul Gheit said Israel's order was a "forced transfer" that constitutes "a crime".

Hostages 

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

"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?"

The looming Israeli ground invasion has also increased fears for the safety of the 150 hostages, including foreigners, that Israel said Hamas seized during its deadly rampage.

Hamas has threatened to kill the hostages one by one for every unannounced Israeli air strike.

A total of 22 have already been killed in bombardments, the militant group said, without elaborating.

Israel's army says it has contacted the families of 120 civilians being held so far.

US President Joe Biden told US television on Friday that his administration was doing "everything" it could to locate 14 missing Americans.

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.

Regional concern 

The Hamas attack and the war it sparked -- Gaza's fifth in 15 years -- have upended Middle Eastern politics, prompting fears that the violence will spread across the volatile region.

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 Arab 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.

"Otherwise, in the next few days, (we) might see a catastrophe unfolding."

Israel faces the threat of a separate confrontation with Lebanon to the north, and cross-border shelling has taken place with the Iran-backed Hezbollah group in recent days.

On Friday, a Reuters video journalist was killed and six other reporters, from AFP, Reuters and Al-Jazeera, were wounded in shelling that Lebanon blamed on Israeli forces.

Blinken, who has told Israel of Washington's full support for its fight-back, on Saturday said he had a "productive" one-hour phone call with his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi.

He is seeking Beijing's help in restoring calm, State Department spokesman Matthew Miller told reporters.

In Beijing, Wang said China wanted urgent peace talks to resolve the situation, a read-out from the foreign ministry said.

Iran -- Israel's long-time arch enemy, which has bankrolled Hamas and celebrated last Saturday's attack -- insists it was not involved.

Saudi Arabia, which has been seeking closer ties with Israel, has put "possible normalisation" talks on hold, a source familiar with the discussions told AFP.

After a meeting with Blinken, Riyadh said it was calling for "an immediate ceasefire in Gaza" and the surrounding area, and for the siege to be lifted, to allow aid to get in. — Agence France-Presse