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10.39am
825 Australians have left the region so far, Penny Wong says
By Anthony Segaert
Foreign Minister Penny Wong just gave a short update on the situation in Israel. Here’s what she said:
About 825 Australians have so far departed Israel and the occupied territories.The first Australian repatriation flight landed in London, with about 240 Australians on board.The next flight will land in Tel Aviv later today, and take more Australians out of Israel and on to Dubai.“If you wish to leave, please do not delay. If you wish to leave, please take the first available flight. Please do not wait for another option.”“The situation on the ground is changing quickly. It is extremely difficult.”
10.27am
Gaza ground invasion to begin once evacuation complete, IDF suggests
By Anthony Segaert
It’s the key question with an increasingly certain answer: will Israel launch a ground offensive in Gaza?
Context: Israel’s military told 1.1 million people in Gaza’s north to evacuate to the south end of the enclave yesterday. It was viewed as a warning ahead of an expected ground invasion against Hamas, the ruling militant group.
Now, a full-scale invasion is looking virtually certain.
Jonathan Conricus, the international spokesperson for the Israel Defence Forces, was speaking just before on CNN.
Host Wolf Blizter asked him how much time Gazans had before a ground invasion would begin. Here’s his response:
We called on them this morning to take their belongings and leave, vacate as soon as possible. We are monitoring … the movement of people, urging more and more people to go.
At this time, I wouldn’t want to give a schedule for events, but I can only say it’s abundantly clear that we are not going to strike civilians, and I think it should be clear by our actions that we want these people to get out of the combat area.
Once that [evacuation] is completed, then the next stage of higher intensity operations in the northern part of the Gaza Strip will start.
9.46am
Watch: The moment Israel’s Iron Dome intercepts rockets
By Anthony Segaert
Earlier this morning we brought you the breaking news that rockets appeared to be intercepted by Israel’s Iron Dome over Tel Aviv.
CNN was broadcasting live from the city when the defence system intercepted two rockets, causing huge explosions.
Here’s how the moment was captured by CNN reporter Matthew Chance:
9.25am
Russia proposes UN Security Council resolution – without naming Hamas
Russia on Friday proposed a draft United Nations Security Council resolution on the Israel-Hamas conflict that calls for a humanitarian ceasefire and condemns violence against civilians and all acts of terrorism, according to a draft text seen by Reuters.
The draft resolution also calls for the release of hostages, humanitarian aid access and the safe evacuation of civilians in need. The text was given to the 15-member council during a closed-door meeting on the conflict on Friday, diplomats said.
The move comes after countries urged Israel to hold off attacking northern Gaza, where more than a million civilians largely defied an Israeli order to evacuate before its forces go after Hamas militants who slaughtered Israeli civilians last weekend.
The one-page Russian draft resolution refers to Israel and the Palestinians but does not directly name Hamas.
“They have not consulted anyone and it does not even mention Hamas, so they are clearly not serious or aligned with most council members,” a council diplomat, speaking on condition of anonymity, said.
A U.N. Security Council resolution needs at least nine votes in favor and no vetoes by the United States, Britain, France, China or Russia. The United States has traditionally shielded its ally Israel from any Security Council action.
Reuters
9.18am
The situation in Gaza right now
By Anthony Segaert
It’s now just past 1am in Gaza, and it is quiet.
The Gaza skyline is quiet in the dead of night, but Friday, just past, was chaos in one of the most densely-populated regions on the planet.
People there woke to chaos because of Israel’s massive evacuation orders for northern Gaza, including Gaza City. The IDF dropped leaflets from the sky telling residents to leave.
But Hamas told residents of the north of the territory to “remain steadfast in your homes and to stand firm in the face of this disgusting psychological war waged by the occupation”.
Before the evacuation directives, 423,000 Gaza Strip residents had already fled their homes, according to the United Nations.
“This is chaos, no one understands what to do,” said Inas Hamdan, an officer at the UN Palestinian refugee agency in Gaza City, while she grabbed whatever she could throw into her bags amid the panicked shouts of her relatives. She said all UN staff in Gaza City and northern Gaza had been told to evacuate south to Rafah.
The threats of a ground invasion have conjured up images of the Nakba, the Arabic word for catastrophe that refers to the 1948 war of Israel’s creation that led to their mass dispossession.
Gaza analyst Talal Okal described the Israeli relocation order as an “attempt to push the Palestinian people of Gaza into Nakba”.
“Like they did in 1948 when they pushed people out of historical Palestine by dropping barrels of explosives on their heads, today Israel is repeating this before the eyes of the world and live cameras,” Okal told Reuters.
In Gaza, mosques broadcast the message: “Hold on to your homes. Hold on to your land.”
with AP, Reuters
8.48am
Australian high commissioner welcomes repatriated citizens in London
By Anthony Segaert
We’ve been getting some new pictures coming in of Australians landing in London after the first repatriation flight left Tel Aviv.
Australia’s high commissioner to the United Kingdom, Stephen Smith, was at Heathrow and greeted citizens as they touched down.
238 passengers were on the flight.
Stephen Smith, Australia’s high commissioner to the United Kingdom, greeted citizens upon arrival in London.Credit: Getty
Stephen Smith waits for Australians to arrive in London from Tel Aviv.Credit: Getty
8.29am
Journalist dead, six more injured, in Israeli strikes on Lebanon
By Anthony Segaert
One journalist has died and six others have been injured after an Israeli shell hit a group of international journalists in Alma al-Shaab, a village on Lebanon’s border with Israel.
Lebanon’s militant Hezbollah group and Israel were exchanging fire on the border – which has been occurring with increasing frequency since Saturday’s Hamas attack – when the shell hit.
Reuters reported that the shelling also hit a military watchtower near the town, as well as a journalist’s car.
Issam Abdallah, a videographer for news agency Reuters, was killed, the company confirmed.
A journalist’s car burns after it was hit by Israeli shelling in the Alma al-Shaab border village with Israel, south Lebanon.Credit: AP
“We are deeply saddened to learn that [Abdallah] has been killed,” it said.
Two other Reuters journalists were injured, as well as two journalists from Al Jazeera and two from Agence France-Presse.
Stephane Dujarric, a UN spokesperson, said the deaths were “another example of the daily dangers journalists face in covering conflict throughout the world”.
“Journalists need to be protected and allowed to do their work.”
8.02am
UN Security Council holds closed-door meeting
The UN Security Council met behind closed doors on Friday to discuss the Israel-Hamas war as Palestinians stream out of northern Gaza on orders from the Israeli military.
Friday’s meeting was scheduled before the evacuation order, which added still more urgency to the discussion. The UN has said the order affects about half Gaza’s population and could turn an already dire humanitarian crisis into a calamity.
United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres.Credit: AP
“Moving more than one million people across a densely populated war zone to a place with no food, water, or accommodation, when the entire territory is under siege, is extremely dangerous — and, in some cases, is simply not possible,” Secretary-General António Guterres said, heading into the meeting.
He implored all parties “and those with influence over them” to do their utmost to enable humanitarian access to the besieged Gaza Strip, to release all hostages immediately and to protect civilians.
The council emerged without any collective message or action from another private session Sunday on the Israel-Hamas fighting. Divisions in the council, the UN’s most powerful body, have sharpened amid Russia’s war in Ukraine.
AP
7.48am
Gazan hospital given hours to evacuate
By Anthony Segaert
You might have seen reports from Médecins Sans Frontières that Al Awda Hospital, in northern Gaza, had been given just two hours to evacuate.
“Israel has given Al Awda Hospital just to hours to evacuate,” the group said of the hospital it supports.
“Our staff are still treating patients.”
That was two hours ago. About an hour ago, the agency said Israeli forces demanded the evacuation of the hospital by 6am – just over six hours from now.
We’ll bring you more details on this situation as they come to hand.
7.21am
First Australian repatriation flight lands in London
By Anthony Segaert
Two hundred Australians are safe after a Qantas repatriation flight left Tel Aviv and landed in London.
The first of several flights aimed at evacuating about 1500 Australians who registered for the flights, flight ASY1168 took off from Ben Gurion International Airport at 6pm on Friday night, Israel time.
Jo Rogers, an Australian living in Israel who was on board the flight, told Nine’s Today she had mixed emotions about getting out of Israel.
A Qantas repatriation flight leaves Ben Gurion Airport in Tel Aviv bound for London.Credit: Nine News
“We feel guilty for leaving, we feel incredibly sad for family and friends that we’re leaving behind,” she said.
“We feel sad for the country, for the lives lost.”
Another flight will go from Tel Aviv to London on Sunday.
Qantas said 900 of its crew offered to help on the flights.
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