The U.S. State Department said on Saturday that it has authorized the departure of non-emergency U.S. government personnel and eligible family members from the U.S. Embassy Jerusalem and the U.S. Branch Office Tel Aviv “due to the unpredictable security situation in Israel”.
At the same time, the Palestinian Red Crescent Society has received an order from Israeli forces with a new deadline to evacuate its Al-Quds hospital in Gaza City by 1300 GMT (16:00 pm local), according to a statement.
An initial deadline was given for 0300 GMT (06:00 am local) but was later extended.
However, the association said they cannot evacuate the hospital and it is obliged under a humanitarian mandate to continue providing services to the sick and wounded, the statement added.
Moreover, as the unrelenting Israeli bombardment has intensified, bakeries in Gaza are running out of bread, drinking water was in short supply and power outages left families without charged phones to find out if fleeing relatives were safe.
The flood of people arriving in south Gaza after Israel told them on Friday to leave an area in the north has stretched resources that were already strained to breaking point.
The United Nations has urged Israel to “avert a humanitarian catastrophe” in Gaza, a slither of land with 2.3 million people wedged between Israel, Egypt and the Mediterranean Sea.