Thousands flee north Gaza after Israel evacuation warning

Thousands of Palestinians fled to southern Gaza in search of refuge Friday after Israel warned them to evacuate before an expected ground offensive against Hamas in
retaliation for the deadliest attack in Israel‍‍`s history.

The call to get out came six days after Hamas gunmen burst through the heavily militarised border around the Gaza Strip and killed more than 1,300 people -- most of them civilians -- in an attack compared to 9/11 in the United
States.

Nearly 1,800 Gazans -- again most of them civilians and including over 580 children -- have been killed in waves of missile strikes on the densely populated enclave, the health ministry said.

Hamas, proscribed as a terrorist organisation by the European Union and the United States, took an estimated 150 Israeli, foreign and dual national hostages back to Gaza during its initial attack, according to Israel.

The militant group said on Friday that 13 of them had been killed in Israeli air strikes. It has previously said four hostages died in bombardments.

Germany Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock, visiting Israel on Friday, said Hamas was using residents as a "shield".

Tensions meanwhile rose across the Middle East and beyond, with angry protests in support of the Palestinians, while Israel faced the threat of a separate confrontation with Hezbollah in Lebanon.

In the occupied West Bank, at least nine Palestinians were killed by Israeli fire during protests supporting Gaza, taking the toll there to 44 since Saturday, the health ministry said.

At a news conference in Ramallah, Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammed Shtayyeh accused Israel of committing "genocide" in Gaza.

But Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu‍‍`s spokeswoman Tal Heinrich told AFP: "Everything that happens in Gaza is Hamas‍‍`s responsibility."

In Gaza, UN officials said the Israeli military, whose troops are massing at the border, had told them the evacuation should be carried out "within the
next 24 hours".

It later admitted it would take more time, however, and did not confirm it had set the deadline.

But the United Nations described the immediate movement of some 1.1 million people -- nearly half of the 2.4 million in the Gaza Strip -- "impossible".