Palestinians flee northern Gaza as Israel masses troops for assault
Saudi pauses talks on normalisation with Israel: source
Saudi Arabia has suspended talks on potentially normalising ties with Israel, a source told AFP on Saturday, amid the war raging between Israel and the Palestinian militant group Hamas.
"Saudi Arabia has decided to pause discussion on possible normalisation and has informed US officials," a source familiar with the discussions told AFP.
The Gulf kingdom, home to the holiest sites in Islam, has never recognised Israel and did not join the 2020 US-brokered Abraham Accords that saw its Gulf neighbours Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates as well as Morocco establish formal ties with Israel.
Gaza death toll rises to 2,215 including 724 children: ministry
Israeli strikes on the Gaza Strip since Hamas's attack on southern Israel one week ago have killed at least 2,215 people, including 724 children, the Palestinian territory's Hamas-controlled health ministry said Saturday.
Some 458 women were among those killed, the ministry said. It added that 8,714 people have also been wounded, after an earlier statement said at least 324 people were killed in the past 24 hours alone, reports AFP.
Palestinians flee northern Gaza as Israel masses troops for assault
Thousands of Palestinians fled the north of the Gaza Strip on Saturday from the path of an expected Israeli ground assault, while Israel pounded the area with more air strikes and said it would keep two roads open to let people escape, reports Reuters.
Israel has vowed to annihilate the Hamas militant group that controls Gaza in retaliation for a rampage by fighters, who stormed through Israeli towns a week ago, gunning civilians down and making off with scores of hostages. Some 1,300 people were killed in the worst attack on civilians in Israel's history.
Israeli forces have since put the Hamas-run Gaza Strip, home to 2.3 million Palestinians, under a total siege and bombarded it with unprecedented air strikes. Gaza authorities say more than 2,200 people have been killed, a quarter of them children, and nearly 10,000 wounded.
Israel strike kills senior Hamas military commander: army
A senior military commander of Hamas who headed the Islamist group's aerial operations in Gaza City has been killed in Israeli air strikes, the military said Saturday.
Murad Abu Murad was killed over the past day when fighter jets struck an operational centre of Hamas from where the group carried out its "aerial activity", the military said. There was no immediate confirmationfrom Hamas.
70 killed in Israeli air strikes while fleeing Gaza, Hamas says
Dozens of Palestinians have been killed in Israeli airstrikes while attempting to flee the northern Gaza Strip after the Israeli military ordered the evacuation of more than a million residents, a demand that was deemed "impossible" by the UN, according to Hamas officials.
The media office of Hamas, the Palestinian group that governs the besieged Gaza Strip, said 70 people, mostly women and children, were killed in the air raids on cars leaving Gaza City in three places, according to Al Jazeera report.
There were few signs of a mass exodus, but thousands of Palestinian civilians started to flee to southern Gaza on Friday under a barrage of constant airstrikes after an Israeli military order.
The northern portion of the strip, which includes Gaza City, the most populous urban area, is home to roughly 1.1 million of the 2.3 million residents of Gaza.
Thousands flee as Israeli ground forces raid Gaza
Thousands of Palestinians fled Saturday to southern Gaza seeking refuge after Israel warned them to evacuate before an expected ground offensive against Hamas in retaliation for the deadliest attack in Israel's history.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned that nearly a week of fierce bombardment was "just the beginning" as Israel seeks to retaliate against Hamas after their fighters killed more than 1,300 a week ago.
Israeli ground forces made "localised" raids into Gaza in the past 24 hours "to cleanse the area of terrorists and weaponry" and try to find "missing persons", the army said.
For more updates visit Israel-Hamas War
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