Israel is preparing to launch a “coordinated offensive” on the Gaza Strip, after the deadline given to Palestinians to move south to escape passed.
Up to 1.1 million people on the sliver of land were offered safe passage south of the Gaza Wadi river by Israel’s Defence Forces until 4pm local time on Saturday (2pm BST), ahead of what is expected to be an all-out offensive by land, sea and air.
But the UN warned the forced evacuationwill have devastating humanitarian consequences, with hospital patients and others unable to leave.
Medical officials say an estimated 35,000 have crammed into the grounds of Gaza City’s main hospital, hoping for refuge.
Earlier on Saturday, Israel’s prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu visited troops preparing to enter the Gaza Strip, telling them: “The next stage is coming.”
The Hamas militant group stormed the border last weekend, killing hundreds of Israelis in their homes – as well as 260 others at a music festival.
More on Gaza
Related Topics:
The group also took Israelis hostage.
Thousands have been killed on both sides since last Saturday’s attack.
The preparations come as Iran’s foreign minister Hossein Amirabdollahian met with Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in Qatar on Saturday.
The pair “agreed to continue cooperation” to achieve the group’s “goals”, a statement from Hamas said.
It added Iran praised the attack as a “historic victory” that had dealt a setback to the Israeli occupation of Palestinian territory.
US outlet Axios reported Iran sent a message to Israel via the United Nations, stressing that it does not want further escalation in the conflict, but will intervene if the Israeli operation in Gaza continues.
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
2:50
‘I need daddy?’ Lost in Gaza chaos
As Gazans move south – airstrikes continue over the territory
As families in cars, lorries and donkey carts packed with their possessions headed south from Gaza City, Israeli airstrikes continued in the besieged territory.
Hamas said 70 people, mostly women and children, had been killed in an attack on a fleeing convoy.
Sky News has seen footage that appears to show the truck both before and in the aftermath of the strike.
It was not immediately clear who the target of the airstrikes was, or whether militants were among the passengers.
Meanwhile, the Israeli Defence Force (IDF) said its troops conducted raids into Gaza to battle insurgents and hunt for more than 120 civilians kidnapped in last weekend’s shock assault by militants on southern Israel.
It is the first time Israel has stated ground troops have been operating inside the strip.
Image: Israeli soldiers at a kibbutz that was targeted last weekend
Israeli media reported remains of people who had gone missing in last week’s attack had been found during the IDF raids.
On Saturday, US President Joe Biden called Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and, while reiterating “unwavering” support for Israel, discussed international coordination to ensure innocent civilians have access to water, food and medical care.
Mr Biden also spoke with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, who stressed the urgent need to allow urgent humanitarian aid corridors in Gaza.
In New York, Russia asked the UN Security Council to vote on Monday on a draft resolution on the Israel-Hamas conflict that calls for a humanitarian ceasefire and condemns violence against civilians and all acts of terrorism.
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
0:58
Pro-Palestinian protests take place in UK
Protests prompt arrests in London as politicians express support for Israel
There had been previous warnings made to those who attended that anyone showing support for Hamas faced being detained.
Hamas is a proscribed terror group in the UK.
Both Rishi Sunak and Sir Keir Starmer have condemned Hamas, a week after its attack on Israel.
Speaking on Saturday evening, Mr Sunak defended Israel’s right to defend itself, saying: “We stand with Israel, not just today, not just tomorrow, but always.”
“And I stand with you, the British Jewish community, not just today, not just tomorrow, but always.
Spreaker
This content is provided by Spreaker, which may be using cookies and other technologies.
To show you this content, we need your permission to use cookies.
You can use the buttons below to amend your preferences to enable Spreaker cookies or to allow those cookies just once.
You can change your settings at any time via the Privacy Options.
Unfortunately we have been unable to verify if you have consented to Spreaker cookies.
To view this content you can use the button below to allow Spreaker cookies for this session only.
Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer added: “In the days that have followed, we have heard horrific stories of the murder and mutilation of men, women and children, along with the horror of hostage-taking.”
He called for hostages to be released and said he stands by the Jewish community.
British citizens on the Gaza Strip are being encouraged by the government to follow advice from Israel and move southwards, with hopes the Rafah crossing could open to allow those displaced in the region to head into Egypt.
Four repatriation flights organised by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office have left Tel Aviv for those wanting to leave Israel, with the government now advising against all travel there.
A man who was mistakenly deported to El Salvador by the Trump administration has been returned to the US to face criminal charges.
Kilmar Abrego Garcia was charged in an indictment filed in federal court in Tennessee with conspiring to transport illegal immigrants into the US, attorney general Pam Bondi said on Friday.
Court records have shown the indictment was filed on 21 May, more than two months after he was deported from the US under a controversial 18th-century wartime law.
Image: US attorney general Pam Bondi, alongside her deputy Todd Blanche, outlined the charges at a news conference. Pic: AP
In a statement, Abrego Garcia’s lawyer Andrew Rossman said it would now be up to the US judicial system to ensure he received due process.
“Today’s action proves what we’ve known all along – that the administration had the ability to bring him back and just refused to do so,” he said.
Salvadoran Abrego Garcia, 29, was deported from Maryland despite an immigration judge’s 2019 order granting him protection after finding he was likely to be persecuted by local gangs if he was returned to his native country.
The indictment alleges Abrego Garcia worked with at least five co-conspirators to bring immigrants to the US illegally and transport them from the border to other destinations in the country.
More from US
On Friday, Ms Bondi outlined the charges at a news conference, saying: “The grand jury found that over the past nine years, Abrego Garcia has played a significant role in an alien smuggling ring.
“He made over 100 trips, the grand jury found – smuggling people throughout our country… MS-13 [international criminal gang] members, violent gang terrorist organisation members… throughout our country.
“He will be prosecuted in our country, sentenced in our country if convicted and then returned after completion of his sentence.”
Ms Bondi said Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele agreed to return Abrego Garcia to the US after American officials presented his government with an arrest warrant.
Image: Chris Van Hollen (R) speaks to Kilmar Abrego Garcia. Pic: Press Office Senator Van Hollen/AP
Democrat senator Chris Van Hollen travelled to El Salvador in April to meet Abrego Garcia, arguing his constitutional rights to due process were being ignored.
Critics of Donald Trump have pointed to the deportation of Abrego Garcia as an example of the excesses of the Republican president’s aggressive immigration policies.
US District Judge Paula Xinis has opened a probe into what, if anything, Mr Trump’s administration has done to secure his return, after his lawyers accused officials of stonewalling their requests for information.
Image: Jennifer Vasquez Sura (R) filed a legal complaint over the deportation of her husband. Pic: AP
Follow The World
Listen to The World with Richard Engel and Yalda Hakim every Wednesday
Officials responded by alleging that Abrego Garcia was a member of the MS-13 gang – something his lawyers have strongly denied.
In a separate statement, Pam Bondi also attacked what she called the “Fake News Media” and repeated the – yet unproven – allegations against Abrego Garcia.
“The Justice Department’s Grand Jury Indictment against Abrego Garcia proves the unhinged Democrat Party was wrong, and their stenographers in the Fake News Media were once again played like fools.
“Abrego Garcia was never an innocent ‘Maryland Man’- Abrego Garcia is an illegal alien terrorist, gang member, and human trafficker who has spent his entire life abusing innocent people, especially women and the most vulnerable.”
Senior White House officials will meet with a Chinese delegation in London on Monday for the next round of trade talks, US President Donald Trump has said.
The meeting comes after a phone call between Mr Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jinping on Thursday, which the US president said was “very positive” – lasting about an hour and a half.
Speaking to reporters on Friday from Air Force One, the president added that it was a “good talk”, describing the deal as “complicated”, but one that “will bring us a lot of money”.
He also said: “I get along well with Xi and China.”
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
0:54
US and China reach agreement on tariffs
Writing on his Truth Social platform, Mr Trump said the upcoming London meeting “should go very well” and added that treasury secretary Scott Bessent, commerce secretary Howard Lutnick and trade representative Jamieson Greer would represent the US at the talks.
It is unclear who will represent China.
The two countries are at an impasse over tariffs and a dispute involving critical rare earth mineral exports, in which China remains the dominant producer.
On 12 May, China and the US struck a 90-day deal in Geneva to pause retaliatory tariffs placed on each other since Mr Trump was inaugurated in January.
More on China
Related Topics:
The US president said the move was part of a “total reset” in relations.
The agreement prompted a global surge in stock markets and US indexes that were in, or approaching, bear market levels.
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
3:44
US and China end trade war
The temporary deal saw the US reduce its 145% tariff to 30% on Chinese goods.
China also agreed to reduce its 125% retaliatory tariffs to 10% on US goods.
Spreaker
This content is provided by Spreaker, which may be using cookies and other technologies.
To show you this content, we need your permission to use cookies.
You can use the buttons below to amend your preferences to enable Spreaker cookies or to allow those cookies just once.
You can change your settings at any time via the Privacy Options.
Unfortunately we have been unable to verify if you have consented to Spreaker cookies.
To view this content you can use the button below to allow Spreaker cookies for this session only.
The Chinese foreign ministry said the US president initiated the call, and they had asked him to “remove the negative measures” in place against China.
It also said that Mr Trump said “the US loves to have Chinese students coming to study in America”.
This is despite his administration previously saying it will “aggressively” revoke the visas of Chinese students studying in the US.
Since Mr Trump’s re-election, the president has frequently issued threats of punitive trade measures against US partners, only to backtrack at the last minute.
Israel has issued a fresh warning to civilians in northern Gaza, saying its military is about to carry out intensive operations there.
It comes after Israel said rockets were fired from the area.
Palestinians across the war-ravaged Gaza Strip have marked the start of one of Islam’s most important holidays, amid little hope the conflict will end any time soon.
Much of Gaza lies in ruins, with men and children forced to hold the traditional Eid al Adha prayers in the open air, and as food supplies dwindle.
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
8:49
UN: 500,000 are food insecure in Gaza
Food and aid were blocked from entering the Palestinian territory for more than two months, but a trickle of supplies has been allowed in over the last few weeks.
The UN said it cannot distribute much of the aid, due to the risk of looters and restrictions on movement.
“This is the worst feast that the Palestinian people have experienced because of the unjust war against the Palestinian people,” said Kamel Emran after attending prayers in the southern city of Khan Younis.
More on Gaza
Related Topics:
“There is no food, no flour, no shelter, no mosques, no homes, no mattresses… The conditions are very, very harsh.”
The Islamic holiday begins on the 10th day of the Islamic lunar month of Dhul-Hijja, during the Hajj season in Saudi Arabia.
It is the second year Muslims in Gaza have been unable to travel to the country to perform the traditional pilgrimage.
Hamas is still holding 56 hostages, with a third of them believed to be alive. The rest have been released in ceasefire agreements, with forces rescuing eight living hostages from Gaza and recovering dozens of bodies.
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
0:42
Situation in Gaza ‘utterly intolerable’
Israel has killed more than 54,000 Palestinians, mostly women and children, in its military campaign, according to the Gaza health ministry, which does not distinguish between civilians or combatants in its figures.
Around 90% of the population of two million has been displaced.