Israeli evacuation call in Gaza hikes Egypt's fears of a mass exodus of refugees into its territory

Israeli evacuation call in Gaza hikes Egypt's fears of a mass exodus of refugees into its territory
Palestinians fleeing from northern Gaza to the south after the Israeli army issued an unprecedented evacuation warning to a population of over 1 million people in northern Gaza and Gaza City to seek refuge in the south ahead of a possible Israeli ground invasion on Oct. 13, 2023. (AP)
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Updated 13 October 2023
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Israeli evacuation call in Gaza hikes Egypt's fears of a mass exodus of refugees into its territory

Israeli evacuation call in Gaza hikes Egypt's fears of a mass exodus of refugees into its territory
  • Egypt’s leadership has frantically tried to negotiate the entry of humanitarian aid through its crossing into the Palestinian territory
  • On Friday Egypt's Foreign Ministry went further, publicly calling the evacuation order a “grave violation” of international law

CAIRO: Israel’s call Friday for half of the Gaza Strip’s population to evacuate south is hiking Egypt’s fears of a massive influx of refugees across the heavily fortified border into its territory.
Since Hamas’ bloody attack on Israel sparked a massive retaliation in Gaza, Egypt’s leadership has frantically tried to negotiate the entry of humanitarian aid through its crossing into the Palestinian territory — partially in hopes of averting an exodus into Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula. Officials say its efforts have received no response from Israel.
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken was expected to visit Cairo over the weekend and Egyptian officials are expected to discuss the entry of aid with him.
Israel sealed off the Gaza Strip, stopping all entry of food, water, medicine and fuel to its 2.3 million people, while bombardment has leveled swaths of its cities. That has left Egypt’s Rafah crossing as the sole access. But repeated Israeli airstrikes at the Palestinian side of the crossing have forced it to stop operating, Egypt’s Foreign Ministry said, leaving trucks of aid stopped on the Egyptian side.
Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi called for access through Rafah in a speech Thursday. He also pushed back against letting in large numbers of Palestinians.
“The threat there is significant because it means the liquidation of this (Palestinian) cause,” el-Sissi said at a military college graduation ceremony in Cairo. “It’s important for its people to stay steadfast and exist on its land.” He also pointed out that Egypt already hosts some 9 million refugees. That population swelled this year as 300,000 Sudanese fled their country’s war into Egypt, already facing economic crisis.
On Friday Egypt's Foreign Ministry went further, publicly calling the evacuation order a “grave violation” of international law.
Khaled Gendy, a senior fellow at the Middle East Institute, said Egypt’s primary concern is that hundreds of thousands of refugees will become a permanent reality. “What sort of guarantees are there going to be for their return?” he said.
Palestinians and Arab nations are marked by the experience of the 1948 war surrounding Israel's creation when Palestinians were expelled or fled to neighboring countries and have not been allowed to return since, a major sticking point in the long defunct peace process.
A senior State Department official traveling with Blinken from Jordan to Qatar said the U.S. is talking to Israel, U.N. agencies and the International Committee of the Red Cross on creating safe zones within Gaza, where civilians can receive humanitarian aid. It was not clear if the aid would enter from Israel or Egypt.
The official said there appears to be little desire on anyone's part to unfettered border crossings into Egypt, given the impact on the already restive Sinai and the economic burden, and they don’t want Palestinians who are already refugees to become double refugees. The U.S. focus on Egypt has been on getting Palestinians with dual nationality out through Rafah if they wish. The official spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss private and ongoing diplomatic discussions.
Egyptian officials have long feared that Israel seeks to make their country responsible for Palestinians in Gaza, which Egypt ruled between the 1948 and 1967 Mideast wars. Egypt has joined Israel in its blockade of the Gaza Strip since the Hamas takeover, tightly controlling entry of supplies and the exit of people.
Israel's evacuation call told Palestinians to move to southern Gaza, raising expectations of a ground assault. A military spokesman said they would be allowed back once the war is over. But with bombardment continuing in south Gaza, the mass movement will likely put pressure on Egypt's border.
Israel has not detailed its long-term plan for Gaza beyond crushing Hamas, which has ruled there since 2007. Even if displaced are allowed back, it isn't known what will remain of their homes and economy.
A senior Egyptian security official told The Associated Press that Egypt has taken “unprecedented measures” to prevent a breach to its borders with Gaza. Thousands of security forces have been deployed at the border, he said.
In 2008, Hamas militants blasted through the border fence with Egypt, allowing hundreds of thousands of people to flood into Sinai. The state-run al-Ahram daily reported that Egyptian authorities warned Hamas’ leaders in recent days against any repeat of that.
The official said Egyptian officials have been communicating “around the clock” with Israel, Hamas, the United States and European countries proposing a cease-fire, allowing aid delivery through Rafah and creating “safe zones” inside Gaza. He said there has been no Israeli response. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not allowed to talk to news media.
The Israeli Foreign Ministry said it was unaware of any contacts with Egypt about a cease-fire or humanitarian aid, though such contacts often take place among security officials.
Egypt, which has a peace treaty and close security cooperation with Israel and contacts with Hamas, helped broker cease-fires in previous wars between the two sides.
European Union chief diplomat Josep Borrel on Thursday supported Egypt's proposal to deliver international aid through Rafah. Egypt has called on countries and aid groups to send supplies to its el-Arish airport in northern Sinai, near Rafah. Jordan and Turkey have already sent shipments. Local aid groups, including the Egyptian Red Crescent, also begun collecting aid and donations.
Israel launched its siege of Gaza in retaliation for Hamas’ incursion Saturday, when militants stormed into southern Israel, massacring hundreds of civilians and soldiers and seizing some 150 hostages. More than 3,000 people have been killed on both sides.


Israeli planes bomb southern Lebanon after radio blasts

Israeli planes bomb southern Lebanon after radio blasts
Updated 23 sec ago
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Israeli planes bomb southern Lebanon after radio blasts

Israeli planes bomb southern Lebanon after radio blasts
  • Attacks on Hezbollah's communications equipment killed 37, wounded around 3,000 in past two days 
  • Israel says its conflict with Hezbollah, like war in Gaza, is part of a wider regional confrontation with Iran

BEIRUT/JERUSALEM: Israel bombed southern Lebanon on Thursday and said it had thwarted an Iranian-led assassination plot after explosions in booby-trapped radios and pagers in the past two days caused bloody havoc in the ranks of its arch-foe Hezbollah.

The attacks on Hezbollah’s communications equipment killed 37 people and wounded around 3,000, raising fears that a full-blown war was imminent. The action also sowed disarray across Lebanon as panicked residents abandoned their mobile phones.

“This isn’t a small matter, it’s war. Who can even secure their phone now? When I heard about what happened yesterday, I left my phone on my motorcycle and walked away,” said Mustafa Sibal on a street in Beirut.

Israel has neither confirmed nor denied being behind the attacks but multiple security sources have said they were carried out by its spy agency Mossad.

The Lebanese army said on Thursday it was blowing up pagers and suspicious telecom devices in controlled blasts in different areas. It called on citizens to report any suspicious devices.

Lebanese authorities banned walkie-talkies and pagers from being taken on flights from Beirut airport until further notice, the National News Agency reported. Such devices were also banned from being shipped by air.

In Beirut on Thursday, a distant roar in the skies could be heard from what state media said was Israeli warplanes breaking the sound barrier — a noise that has become common in recent months.

Hezbollah fired missiles at Israel on the day after the Oct. 7 cross-border attack by the Palestinian militant group Hamas which triggered the Gaza war, and since then constant exchanges of fire have occurred, although neither side has allowed this to escalate into a full-scale war.

Israel said its warplanes struck villages in southern Lebanon overnight, and a security source and Hezbollah’s Al-Manar TV reported airstrikes near the border began again on Thursday just after midday.

Hand-held radios used by Hezbollah detonated on Wednesday across Lebanon’s south.

The previous day, hundreds of pagers — used by Hezbollah to evade mobile phone surveillance — exploded at once, killing 12 people including two children, and injuring more than 2,300.

Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati called on the United Nations Security Council to take a firm stand to stop what he called Israel’s “aggression” and “technological war” against his country.

Israel says its conflict with Hezbollah, like its war in Gaza against Hamas, is part of a wider regional confrontation with Iran, which sponsors both groups as well as armed movements in Syria, Yemen and Iraq.

Assassination plot

Also on Thursday, Israeli security forces said that an Israeli businessman had been arrested last month after attending at least two meetings in Iran where he discussed assassinating Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, the defense minister or the head of the Shin Bet spy agency.

Last week, Shin Bet uncovered what it said was a plot by Hezbollah to assassinate former Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon.

Israel has been accused of assassinations including a blast in Tehran that killed the leader of Hamas and another in a Beirut suburb that killed a senior Hezbollah commander within hours of each other in July.

Despite the events of the past few days, a spokesperson for the UN peacekeeping mission in southern Lebanon said the situation along the frontier had “not changed much in terms of exchanges of fire between the parties.”

“There was an intensification last week. This week it is more or less the same. There are still exchanges of fire. It is still worrying, still concerning, and the rhetoric is high,” the spokesperson, Andrea Tenenti, said.

Tens of thousands of people have had to flee the Israel-Lebanon border area on both sides since the hostilities began in October.

Shifting focus

The Israeli military said its overnight air strikes hit Hezbollah targets in Chihine, Tayibe, Blida, Meiss El Jabal, Aitaroun and Kfarkela in southern Lebanon, as well as a Hezbollah weapons storage facility in the area of Khiam.

On Wednesday, Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said the war was moving into a new phase, with more resources and military units being shifted to the northern border.

According to Israeli officials, the forces being deployed there include the 98th Division, an elite formation including commando and paratrooper elements that has been fighting in Gaza.


Hezbollah chief says group suffered ‘major’ blow in device blasts

Hezbollah chief says group suffered ‘major’ blow in device blasts
Updated 15 min 49 sec ago
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Hezbollah chief says group suffered ‘major’ blow in device blasts

Hezbollah chief says group suffered ‘major’ blow in device blasts
  • Nasrallah struck a defiant tone, warning that Israel would receive “just punishment” for the attacks
  • Describing the attacks as a possible “act of war,” he said Israel would face “tough retribution and just punishment, where it expects it and where it does not“

BEIRUT: Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah acknowledged Thursday his powerful group had suffered an “unprecedented” blow when thousands of operatives’ communication devices exploded in attacks it blamed on Israel.
Israel has not commented on the attacks that killed 37 people and wounded nearly 3,000 across Lebanon over two days but has said it will widen the scope of its war in Gaza to include the Lebanon front.
Delivering a speech after the attacks on Tuesday and Wednesday, which plunged Lebanon into panic, Nasrallah struck a defiant tone, warning that Israel would receive “just punishment” for the attacks.
Describing the attacks as a possible “act of war,” he said Israel would face “tough retribution and just punishment, where it expects it and where it does not.”
“It could be a war crime or a declaration of war,” he said of the attacks, which he branded a “massacre.”
Nasrallah also vowed to keep up Hezbollah’s fight against Israel until a ceasefire in Gaza is reached.
“The Lebanese front will not stop until the aggression on Gaza stops” despite “all this blood spilt,” he said.
Nasrallah addressed Israeli officials’ promises to return thousands of Israelis displaced by exchanges of fire across the border with Lebanon to their homes.
“You will not be able to return the people of the north to the north,” he said, warning that “no military escalation, no killings, no assassinations and no all-out war can return residents to the border.”
Hezbollah is an ally of Palestinian militant group Hamas, which on October 7 launched an unprecedented attack on Israel that sparked Gaza’s deadliest ever war.
Up until now, the focus of Israel’s firepower had been on Gaza.
But Israel’s northern border with Lebanon has seen exchanges of fire between Israeli troops and Hezbollah militants almost every day since October.
The violence has killed hundreds of people, mostly fighters, on the Lebanese side, and dozens on the Israeli side.
Israeli warplanes broke the sound barrier over Beirut as Nasrallah spoke, Lebanon’s state-run National News Agency said, with AFP correspondents in Beirut reporting loud booms.
Nasrallah announced the launch of an internal probe into the attacks, which experts and some Israeli media have said bear all the hallmarks of Israeli intelligence agency Mossad.


EU’s Borrell says Lebanon attacks aimed to ‘spread terror’

EU’s Borrell says Lebanon attacks aimed to ‘spread terror’
Updated 19 September 2024
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EU’s Borrell says Lebanon attacks aimed to ‘spread terror’

EU’s Borrell says Lebanon attacks aimed to ‘spread terror’
  • “The indiscriminate method used is unacceptable due to the inevitable and heavy collateral damages among civilians,” Borrell said
  • At least 37 people were killed and more than 3,000 wounded

BEIRUT: The EU foreign policy chief condemned attacks which targeted mobile communication devices used by Hezbollah this week, saying whoever was behind them aimed “to spread terror in Lebanon,” a statement from the EU’s Beirut delegation said on Thursday.
“The indiscriminate method used is unacceptable due to the inevitable and heavy collateral damages among civilians, and the broader consequences for the entire population, including fear and terror, and the collapse of hospitals,” Josep Borrell said.
At least 37 people were killed and more than 3,000 wounded when first pagers, then walkie-talkies used by Hezbollah members exploded in two waves of attacks on Tuesday and Wednesday.
Lebanon and Hezbollah say Israel carried out the attack. Israel has not claimed responsibility.
Hezbollah, a heavily armed group backed by Iran, and Israel have been trading fire across the Lebanese-Israeli border for almost a year in a conflict triggered by the Gaza war.


Hezbollah attacks Israel with drones as fears of a widening war mount

Hezbollah attacks Israel with drones as fears of a widening war mount
Updated 19 September 2024
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Hezbollah attacks Israel with drones as fears of a widening war mount

Hezbollah attacks Israel with drones as fears of a widening war mount
  • Hezbollah said early Thursday it had targeted three military positions in northern Israel near the border, two of them with drones
  • The Israeli military said the drones crashed near communities

BEIRUT: Hezbollah fired a new barrage into northern Israel on Thursday, continuing its drumbeat of exchanges with the Israeli military as fears of a greater war rise.
Hundreds of electronic devices used by Hezbollah exploded in Lebanon earlier this week, killing at least 37 people and wounding some 3,000 others.
The device explosions appeared to be the culmination of a monthslong operation by Israel to target as many Hezbollah members as possible all at once. Over two days, pagers and walkie-talkies used by Hezbollah detonated, wounding and even crippling some fighters, but also maiming civilians connected to the group’s social branches and killing at least two children.
It was unclear how the attack fit into warnings by Israeli leaders in recent weeks that they could launch a stepped-up military operation against Hezbollah, Lebanon’s strongest armed force.
The Israeli government has called it a war aim to end the Iranian-backed group’s cross-border fire in order to allow tens of thousands of Israelis to return to homes near the border.
Speaking to Israeli troops on Wednesday, Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said, “We are at the start of a new phase in the war — it requires courage, determination and perseverance.” He made no mention of the exploding devices but praised the work of Israel’s army and security agencies, saying “the results are very impressive.”
Gallant said that after months of fighting Hamas in Gaza, “the center of gravity is shifting to the north by diverting resources and forces.”
Hezbollah said early Thursday it had targeted three military positions in northern Israel near the border, two of them with drones. The Israeli military said the drones crashed near communities. Hospitals reported they treated at least eight patients lightly or moderately injured. The military said early Thursday it had struck several militant sites in southern Lebanon overnight.
The volley of strikes was a signal by Hezbollah that it would continue its near daily fire, which it says is a show of support for Hamas. Israel’s 11-month-old war with Hamas in Gaza began after its militants led the Oct. 7 attack on Israel.
Israel has responded to Hezbollah’s fire with strikes in southern Lebanon, and has struck senior figures from the group in the capital Beirut. The exchanges have killed hundreds in Lebanon and dozens in Israel and forced the evacuation of tens of thousands of residents on each side of the border.
Israel and Hezbollah have repeatedly pulled back from an all-out war under heavy pressure from the United States, France and other countries.
But in their recent warnings, Israeli leaders have said they are determined to change the status quo dramatically.
Israel began moving more troops to its border with Lebanon on Wednesday as a precautionary measure, Israeli officials said. Israel’s army chief, Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi, said plans have been drawn up for additional action against Hezbollah, though media reported the government has not yet decided whether to launch a major offensive in Lebanon.
Lebanon is still reeling from the deadly device attacks of Tuesday and Wednesday.
The explosions have rattled anxious Lebanese fearing a full-scale war. The Lebanese Army said it has been locating and detonating suspicious pagers and communication devices, while the country’s civil aviation authorities banned pagers and walkie-talkies on all airplanes departing from Beirut’s international airport until further notice.
The attack was likely to severely disrupt Hezbollah’s internal communication as it scrambles to determine safe means to talk to each other. Hezbollah announced the death of five combatants Thursday, but didn’t specify if they were killed in the explosions or on the front lines.
Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah was scheduled to speak later Thursday as the group vowed to retaliate against Israel.
The blasts went off wherever the holders of the pagers or walkie-talkies happened to be in multiple parts of Beirut and eastern and southern Lebanon — in homes and cars, grocery stores and cafes and on the street, even at a funeral for some killed in the bombings, often with family and other bystanders nearby.
Many suffered gaping wounds on their legs, abdomens and faces or were maimed in the hand. Tuesday’s pager blasts killed 12 people, including two children, and wounded some 2,300 others. The following day’s explosion killed 25 and wounded more than 600, Health Minister Firas Abiad said, giving updated figures.
Abiad told reporters that Wednesday’s injuries were more severe than the previous day as walkie-talkies that exploded were bigger than the pagers. He praised Lebanon’s hospitals, saying they had managed to deal with the flood of wounded within hours. “It was an indiscriminate attack. It was a war crime,” he said.


Israel media say new Gaza deal mooted to free hostages, give Sinwar safe passage

Israel media say new Gaza deal mooted to free hostages, give Sinwar safe passage
Updated 19 September 2024
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Israel media say new Gaza deal mooted to free hostages, give Sinwar safe passage

Israel media say new Gaza deal mooted to free hostages, give Sinwar safe passage
  • The proposal would also call for the release of Palestinian prisoners and a new governance system in Gaza, though no details were provided
  • Hostage envoy Gal Hirsch “presented the plan to the Americans, who were expected to pass it on to unspecified Arab officials“

JERUSALEM: Israeli media reported on Thursday that Israel has proposed a new deal that would see hostages released from Gaza in exchange for safe passage for Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar and the cessation of fighting.
Public broadcaster Kan reported that the proposal would also call for the release of Palestinian prisoners and a new governance system in Gaza, though no details were provided.
The Times of Israel said an Israeli official had confirmed that hostage envoy Gal Hirsch “presented the plan to the Americans, who were expected to pass it on to unspecified Arab officials.”
Asked about the reports by AFP at a press conference on Thursday, government spokesman David Mencer did not specifically address them, instead referring to previous statements calling for the international community to pressure Hamas to make concessions to reach a deal.
“Whoever wants to assist in the effort to release our hostages needs to pressure the murderous Sinwar and not the prime minister of the State of Israel,” he said.
The October 7 attacks that sparked the Gaza war resulted in the deaths of 1,205 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on Israeli official figures that include hostages killed in captivity.
Out of 251 hostages seized by militants, 97 are still held in Gaza, including 33 the Israeli military says are dead.
Israel’s retaliatory military offensive has killed at least 41,272 people in Gaza, a majority of them civilians, according to figures provided by the Hamas-run territory’s health ministry. The United Nations has acknowledged the figures as reliable.



Israeli media reported on Thursday that Israel has proposed a new deal that would see hostages released from Gaza in exchange for safe passage for Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar and the cessation of fighting. (AFP/File)