Gaza [Gaza Strip], October 16: More than one million people have been displaced in the Gaza Strip in the last week, the UN said Sunday, after sustained Israeli bombardment and warnings about a ground attack against Hamas commanders.
Israel declared war on the Islamist group last Sunday, a day after waves of fighters broke through the heavily fortified border and shot, stabbed and burned to death more than 1,400 people, most of them civilians.
Seven days of relentless bombing have flattened neighbourhoods and left at least 2,450 people dead in the Gaza Strip, the majority ordinary Palestinians, the health ministry there said.
As Israel seeks to avenge the worst attack in its history, the Arab League and African Union warned the invasion could lead to "genocide".
It also faced a grave warning about the security implications of putting boots on the ground in the densely populated enclave.
"No one can guarantee the control of the situation and the non-expansion of the conflicts" if Israel sends its soldiers into Gaza, said Iran's foreign minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian.
"Those who are interested in preventing the scope of war and crisis from expanding need to prevent the current barbaric attacks... against citizens and civilians in Gaza," he added.
At least 10 people have now been killed in Lebanon and two in Israel, prompting Israel to shut the border area to civilians.
Defence Minister Yoav Gallant said Israel had "no interest in a war in the north, we don't want to escalate the situation".
But he added: "If Hezbollah chooses the path of war, it will pay a heavy price... but if it restrains itself, we'll respect the situation."
The United States, which has given unequivocal backing to Israel, is concerned about violence spreading, and has sent two aircraft carriers to the eastern Mediterranean as a deterrent.
The United States, which is sending two aircraft carriers to the eastern Mediterranean, is concerned about an escalation
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has in recent days toured Middle Eastern capitals in a frantic round of diplomacy to try to avert a wider crisis in the volatile region.
On Sunday, he pointed to "determination in every country I went to make sure that this doesn't spread," as he left Egypt to head back to Israel.
Blinken has appealed to China to use its influence in the region to ease tensions.
But on Sunday Foreign Minister Wang Yi said Israel's response had "gone beyond the scope of self-defence".
Israel has massed thousands of troops and heavy weaponry in the desert south of the country, waiting for the green light to go in to northern Gaza.
The army has told 1.1 million Palestinians in the north of the Gaza Strip -- nearly half of its 2.4-million population -- to head south to safety.
The Israeli military has told 1.1 million people to move before an expected ground attack on northern Gaza
Aid agencies, including the UN and ICRC, as well as foreign governments have repeatedly criticised Israel's request for Gazans to leave their homes -- and accused it of inflicting collective punishment on ordinary people. The UN agency supporting Palestinian refugees said on Sunday that some one million people had already been displaced in the first week of the conflict.
"The number is likely to be higher as people continue to leave their homes," UNRWA director of communications Juliette Touma told AFP.
Palestinians carrying whatever belongings they can, in bags and suitcases, or packed onto three-wheeled motorbikes, battered cars, vans and even donkey carts have become a common sight in recent days.
But they have had to find shelter wherever they can in the increasingly crowded south of the Gaza Strip, including in the streets and UN-run schools.
Israel had cut off water, fuel and food supplies to Gaza for the duration of the conflict. Local hospitals are becoming overwhelmed with increasing numbers of dead and injured.
Source: Qatar Tribune