Israel orders Gaza evacuation, threatens to unleash ‘hurricane’
UK PM meets Palestinian leader ahead of statehood recognition
GAZA/London
Palestinians living in the ruins of Gaza City were bombarded with Israeli leaflets on Tuesday ordering them out, after Israel said it was about to obliterate the area in an assault to wipe out Hamas.
Residents of the city, home to a million Palestinians before the war, have been expecting an onslaught for weeks, since the Israeli government devised a plan to deal Hamas a fatal blow in what it says are the militant group’s last strongholds.
“I say to the residents of Gaza, take this opportunity and listen to me carefully: you have been warned, get out of there!” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said.
The Israeli military airdropped leaflets with evacuation orders onto residents standing amid the rubble of Gaza City, where it has bombed residential towers to the ground in the past few days.
The evacuation orders caused panic and confusion among residents of the strip’s largest urban centre, who say there is no safe place to go to escape bombardment and a humanitarian crisis.
The health authorities in Gaza announced they would evacuate Gaza City’s two main operational hospitals, Al Shifa and Al Ahli, adding that doctors would not leave patients unattended.
Israel’s subsequent military assault has killed over 64,000 Palestinians, Gaza’s health ministry says. Nearly the entire population has been internally displaced, much of the territory lies in ruins and a hunger crisis has grown far worse in recent months.
Meanwhile, Britain’s Prime Minister Keir Starmer met with Palestinian Authority president Mahmud Abbas in London, as the UK government edges towards recognising a Palestinian state.
The leaders discussed “the need for an urgent solution to end the horrific suffering and famine” in Gaza and the release of hostages held by Hamas, a spokesperson for Starmer’s Downing Street office said in a statement.
Abbas welcomed the UK’s “pledge to recognising a Palestinian state ahead of the UN General Assembly meeting later this month, unless Israel changes its course”, the spokesperson added.
Several countries, including Britain and France have announced they intend to recognise a Palestinian state at the United Nations later this month.
Starmer’s government said it will take the step if Israel fails to agree to a ceasefire in the devastating Gaza war, triggered by Palestinian group Hamas’s October 2023 attack.
The British leader has indicated he will do that in the coming weeks unless the Israeli government takes “substantive” steps to end the humanitarian crisis in Gaza and commit to a long-term, sustainable peace.
His meeting with Abbas “is part of the prime minister’s ongoing efforts to reach a political solution to the ongoing conflict in Gaza”, Downing Street said ahead of the bilateral.
During their talks, both leaders “agreed there will be absolutely no role for Hamas in the future governance of Palestine” and reiterated the need for a “long-term solution” to the conflict.
