Jerusalem, Oct 14 (AP) Israel's military ordered hundreds of thousands of civilians living in Gaza City to evacuate ahead of a feared Israel ground offensive. The directive came on Friday on the heels of what the United Nations said was a warning it received from Israel to evacuate 1.1 million people living in northern Gaza. Palestinians and some Egyptian officials fear that Israel ultimately hopes to push Gaza's people out through the southern border with Egypt.
Currently:
1. People are struggling to flee from northern Gaza while also grappling with a growing water crisis after Israel stopped the flow of resources to the Gaza Strip.
2. No decision on a ground offensive has been announced, although Israel has been massing troops along the Gaza border.
3. An Israeli shell landed in a gathering of international journalists covering clashes on the border in southern Lebanon on Friday, killing one and wounding six.
4. The war has claimed at least 3,200 lives since Hamas launched an incursion on Oct. 7.
5. United States Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin has assured Israel: “We have your back”.
Istanbul: The Turkish government says it has successfully evacuated 30 citizens out of Israel.
Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan, speaking to reporter alongside his Egyptian counterpart Sameh Shoukry, said the citizens were among roughly 300 people with dual Turkish-Israeli citizenship in Gaza. He reiterated Turkey's condemnation of “any attack aimed at innocent civilians.”
The Israeli Embassy in Turkey announced on social media Thursday that one Turkish citizen had been killed in Hamas' attack and that another citizen could not be reached.
Romania's Ministry of Foreign Affairs said on Saturday that two more Romanian citizens have been killed in the conflict between Israel and Hamas, bringing the total number of Romanians who have died since Hamas attacked Israel a week ago to four.
All four of the deceased held duel Romanian-Israeli citizenship and resided in Israel. The ministry also said Saturday that another duel citizen is missing and that the Romanian Embassy in Tel Aviv is communication with the Israeli authorities over the matter.
Rome — Italy's foreign minister says the country is continuing its efforts to free Italian nationals who are among those believed to be held hostage by Hamas following the militant group's attack on southern Israel last Saturday.
“We've done and we'll do anything possible to free hostages, three of whom are Italian,” Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani said on Saturday at an event in Rome.
Tajani, who visited Israel on Friday, said he met there with the families of the three people who are believed held hostage — a couple and a boy.
“We hope that Israel's reaction will be proportioned and only hit the sites where Hamas terrorists are hiding or hiding weapons,” Tajani said, adding he hoped that hostages could be freed through the creation of humanitarian corridors.
Helsinki — The foreign ministries of Nordic neighbors Finland and Sweden have repatriated nearly 300 people with evacuation flights from Israel to Helsinki and Stockholm.
Swedish news agency TT said a charter flight from Tel Aviv with around 120 people — mostly Swedes but also Finns and other Nordic nationalities — landed at Stockholm's Arlanda airport early Saturday.
“I am happy that everyone arrived safely and that our Nordic cooperation works so well,” Swedish Foreign Minister Tobias Billström said in a statement.
Some 149 Finnish citizens were repatriated with a separate evacuation flight from Israel that arrived at Helsinki Airport on Saturday morning, according to Finnish Foreign Minister Elina Valtonen.
No further flights are planned, but the Swedish government said in a release that it still “in close contact with other Nordic countries about exit options.”
Beirut — Iran's Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian has met with leaders of militant Palestinian groups in Beirut, Hezbollah's TV station reported.
Al-Manar TV gave no further details about Saturday's meeting between Amirabdollahian, top Hamas official in exile Saleh Arouri and the leader of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad group Ziad Nakhaleh.
Hamas officials have repeatedly said that last Saturday's attacks on southern Israel that have killed hundreds of civilians and troops were the work of the Palestinian group and Iran had nothing to do with it.
Hamas officials did not respond to calls from The Associated Press to confirm and give details about the meeting.
Amirabdollahian left Beirut Saturday afternoon following a tour that took him to Iraq, Syria and Lebanon, where Iran enjoys wide influence.
Iran and Lebanon's Hezbollah group are allies of Hamas and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad.
Berlin— German Chancellor Olaf Scholz has talked again with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu about the current situation in Israel following last week's attack by Hamas.
During their phone conversation on Saturday, both leaders “agreed on the need to avoid a regional conflagration and, in particular, the intervention of Hezbollah in the conflict,” the German government said in a statement, adding that Scholz briefed Netanyahu about his latest diplomatic efforts in this regard.
The German statement said that Netanyahu told Scholz about Israeli efforts to protect civilians in the Gaza Strip which the Israeli leader said were being hindered by Hamas.
Scholz reiterated “Germany's full solidarity with the people of Israel in these difficult hours and underscored that Germany stands unwaveringly by Israel's side.”
London— Thousands of demonstrators marched through central London on Saturday to show their support for Palestinians and demand that Israel stop bombing civilians in the Gaza Strip as the latest Israel-Hamas war heightens tensions around the world.
Protesters waving Palestinian flags and chanting “Free Palestine” and “Stop the bombing” crowded into the streets outside the headquarters of the BBC for a 1 1/2-mile (2.4 kilometer) march that was scheduled to end at about 3 p.m. near the prime minister's residence at 10 Downing Street.
The Metropolitan Police Service deployed more than 1,000 officers to police the event after an increase in both antisemitic and Islamophobic incidents since Hamas militants attacked Israel last weekend.
Police have restricted marchers to a designated route through central London, warning that anyone who strays from it will be arrested. Similar precautions are in place near the Israeli Embassy.
Tehran — Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said Saturday the recent attack on Israel will lead to victory for the Palestinians, the official IRNA news agency reported.
“Part of the currents is indication of incredible power of Islam in Palestine and God willing, the move that began in Palestine will move forward and will be lead to full victory of Palestinians,” he said.
Speaking in a meeting with visiting leader of Nigeria's Shia community Sheikh Ibrahim Zakzaky, Khamenei called the ongoing war in Gaza “one of symbols of power of Islam.”
Khamenei urged world of Islam to help the Palestinians.
Earlier on Tuesday Khamenei, who has final say on all state matters, rejected allegations about his country's role in Hamas' attacks against Israel and vowed to continue supporting the Palestinian territories.
Bangkok- Officials in Thailand say the death toll of Thai nationals killed in Hamas' attack in southern Israel has increased to 24, after the Israeli authorities reported three additional fatalities.
Thai Foreign Ministry spokesperson Kanchana Patarachoke said at a press briefing Saturday that the number of known injured Thais has climbed to 16 with the number of those believed held hostage remaining at 16.
The number of victims from Thailand is relatively high because there are about 30,000 Thai workers in Israel, mostly employed as agricultural laborers. Some 5,000 have been working in the area affected by the violence.
The Thai Foreign Ministry says 7,058 nationals have registered for voluntary repatriation back home while 83 have indicated their intention to remain in Israel.
Abu Dhabi — US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has called Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi to seek China's help in preventing the Israel-Hamas war from spreading.
State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said Blinken called Wang on Saturday from Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, to ask China to use whatever influence it has in the Middle East to keep other countries and groups from entering the conflict.
Miller would not say which countries and groups the US believes Beijing has influence with but China is known to have close trade and political ties with Iran, which in turn supports Hamas and Lebanon's Hezbollah group.
Miller declined to characterize Wang's response, but said the U.S. believes it and China have a shared interest in Middle East stability.
London— Russia's embassy in Israel said Saturday that the number of Russian citizens killed since Hamas launched its attacks against Israel a week ago had risen to 16. Eight Russian citizens are missing, according to embassy press secretary Marina Ryazanova.
“According to the Israeli side, as of 13:00 on October 14, the number of dead citizens of the Russian Federation who also had Israeli citizenship increased to 16 people, Ryazanova said. “The updated lists of missing persons provided by the Israeli side include eight Russian citizens.”
At least one Russian citizen is being held hostage in the Gaza Strip, Russian state news agency RIA Novosti reported.
Jerusalem — The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Assistance, or OCHA, confirmed to The Associated Press that this week was the deadliest in the West Bank since the UN started recording in 2005.
In the week since Hamas launched its attack on Israel last Saturday, 54 Palestinians have died in the West Bank with 16 killed on Friday. The UN says attacks by Israeli settlers have surged there since the Hamas assault.
Paris — France is in contact with dozens of French citizens currently in Gaza, and employees of the French Institute of Gaza, in hopes of ensuring their evacuation, a French diplomatic official said Sunday. The French citizens include people who live there as well as those visiting for humanitarian or family reasons.
The official said diplomatic efforts are underway, via the French consulate in Jerusalem and close contacts with Israeli and Egyptian officials. The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the discussions, also said it is important for civilian preservations to be spared, in line with international humanitarian law.
France has been working to help locate or liberate French-Israeli citizens believed held hostage by Hamas.
Beirut — Hezbollah's TV station has reported an intense exchange of fire along Lebanon's border with Israeli positions in a disputed area along the border with Syria's Israeli-occupied Golan Heights.
Al-Manar TV reported that Hezbollah fighters pounded Israeli positions in the Chebaa Farms and Kfar Chouba hills area on Saturday.
It was the latest exchange of shelling between Israeli troops and Hezbollah fighters since last Saturday following Hamas' attack on southern Israel.
Israel's military said that it was striking Lebanon after coming under fire from Hezbollah.
Chebaa Farms was captured by Israel from Syria during the 1967 Mideast war, but Lebanon considers it and the nearby Kfar Chouba hills as Lebanese territories.
The Golan Heights were annexed by Israel in 1981.(AP)
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