Israel has yet to launch a much-anticipated ground offensive amid international pressure, including calls for more time to evacuate Palestinian civilians in the northern half of the Gaza Strip.
While Palestinians largely heeded the Israeli warning to evacuate, officials and staff of the Al Awda Hospital refused to leave and remained determined to stay and provide health care to patients. Ahmed, Muhanna, the hospital's chief of medicine, said some patients have been evacuated, but some could not be transferred due to their serious conditions. Five patients are inside the intensive medical care unit.
Hamas and Palestinian media alleged that Israeli forces have killed around 70 men, women and children trying to escape to safety. However, there has been no official response from the Israeli government concerning these allegations.
After the Israelis dropped thousands of leaflets on the northern Gaza Strip on Friday, Oct. 13, warning its residents to evacuate to the southern half, residents poured into the Rafah border crossing in the hope of escaping into Egypt. (Related: Israel DELAYS Gaza ground offensive as it orders 1.1 million Palestinians in northern Strip to EVACUATE.)
The border, however, remained close.
The United Nations (UN) and many regional governments have condemned the Israeli order and called on Israel to adhere to international law requiring military forces to avoid civilian casualties. Israel has gathered its troops at the border but has yet to make its move.
Israelis want conditions to be perfect before launching their attack
The weather might be playing a factor, according to CBS News foreign correspondent Imitaz Tyab reporting from Jerusalem. "The weather has turned, it's been a bit rainy, and I think the Israeli military is taking no chances and wants to ensure they have the perfect conditions before they launch that air, land and sea invasion of the Gaza Strip," Tyab reported.
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Diplomatic activity is also delaying the inevitable as efforts intensify to reduce civilian casualties and avert a large-scale humanitarian crisis.
The UN has been unable to deliver assistance to the strip since October 7.
"No supplies have come into Gaza since the 7th of October, nothing, no fuel, no food, no water, no other types of assistance," said Juliette Touma, spokesperson for the UN's Palestinian refugee agency.
Oil tankers, bearing UN flags, have departed the Gaza Strip. They were led near the Rafah border crossing with Egypt by a UN escort vehicle. Reuters reported that the convoy appeared headed toward the Kerem Shalom crossing between Gaza and Israel.
Hospitals in Gaza are expected to run out of generator fuel soon, putting in danger the lives of thousands of patients, according to the UN.
On Monday, Oct. 16, the Hamas-run administration in the Gaza Strip said the death toll from Israeli airstrikes has reached 2,808 following the latest deaths of 254 Palestinians over the preceding 24 hours. The government said 562 more were wounded, bringing the total number to 10,850. It claimed that 60 percent of those killed were women and children.
Meanwhile, more than 40 U.S. lawmakers in the House have sent an urgent letter to President Joe Biden, urging the administration to push Israel to comply with international law and establish a humanitarian corridor. They expressed deep concern about the potential humanitarian consequences of evacuating over a million civilians from northern Gaza.
Amid these calls for a halt to the military offensive, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) announced that "localized raids" have begun, including limited incursions into Gaza to prepare for a broader offensive and to locate hostages.
Fighting along the border with Lebanon continues to intensify, with Israel shelling locations in southern Lebanon. This resulted in casualties among journalists. An IDF unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) is striking Hezbollah targets in Lebanon.
The Pentagon has confirmed the departure of the first evacuation flights of U.S. citizens from Israel. There is no specific intelligence indicating a threat to the U.S. stemming from the Hamas attack.
Watch the destruction of the Gaza Strip following relentless Israeli airstrikes.
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