Palestinians flee to the southern Gaza Strip after the Israeli army issued an evacuation warning to a population of over 1 million in northern Gaza and Gaza City to seek refuge in the south ahead of a possible Israeli ground invasion, Oct 13, 2023. (PHOTO/ AP)

GAZA/JERUSALEM/BEIRUT/DAMASCUS/CAIRO/RAMALLAH - At least nine people abducted by Hamas militants were killed in Israeli airstrikes on Gaza, Al-Qassam Brigades, the armed wing of Hamas, said on Saturday.

In a press statement, Al-Qassam Brigades said that among those hostages killed, four were foreigners.

On Friday, 13 hostages were killed in the airstrikes in northern Gaza.

On Oct 7, Hamas launched a surprise attack by firing thousands of rockets against Israeli targets, prompting extensive airstrikes from the Israeli side. Hamas militants also infiltrated Israeli territory and took a significant number of hostages during the attack.

The ongoing conflict, now in its eighth day, has killed more than 3,000 people on both sides and wounded even more.

Israeli airstrikes in the Gaza Strip killed dozens more Palestinians on Saturday, according to the Health Ministry in Gaza.

In a press statement, the ministry said that "some of the Palestinians were killed in an airstrike targeting a public square in Deir al-Balah city, while some others were killed in al-Nusairat refugee camp in the middle of the coastal enclave."

In addition, there are other Palestinians who were killed by the army during attacks in various areas in northern Gaza, according to the ministry.

The ministry issued a warning about its capacity to handle the increasing casualties, citing shortages in medical supplies, equipment, and personnel.

It urgently called on the international community to pressure Israel to allow medical aid from various countries to enter Gaza to prevent a looming humanitarian crisis in this besieged coastal area.

Palestinians flee from northern Gaza to the south after the Israeli army issued an unprecedented evacuation warning to a population of over 1 million people in northern Gaza and Gaza city to seek refuge in the south ahead of a possible Israeli ground invasion, Oct 13, 2023. (PHOTO/AP)

Evacuation warning

The spokesman for the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) Daniel Hagari on Saturday issued a second warning to Gaza residents, urging them to evacuate to the southern part of the coastal enclave.

The IDF had initially issued an evacuation warning to Palestinians in Gaza on Friday and distributed leaflets of the warning from the air. There have been massive airstrikes against Hamas targets in the region.

According to the army, Hamas' leadership is hiding under civilian buildings.

The call was distributed through different means, in order to minimize the harm to the uninvolved, said Hagari.

He also warned residents of the coastal enclave ruled by Hamas not to get close to the border with Israel, saying they would be "risking death".

In addition, the army posted a message in Arabic saying residents could travel along two main routes of the Gaza Strip safely from 10 am to 4 pm local time.

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Hundreds of foreigners flocked on Saturday to the Rafah border crossing, the only crossing point between Egypt and the Gaza Strip, in an attempt to flee the Palestinian enclave.

"Hundreds of foreigners, some of whom hold American citizenship, waited for long hours in front of the crossing gate, but then gave up because Egypt refused to allow them to cross unless there was an agreement for bringing aid to Gaza," a source at the crossing told Xinhua.

A Palestinian academic with American citizenship, who identified himself as Abu Karim, told Xinhua that he had been waiting at the crossing for days, with hope to leave dwindling. Standing next to his wife and three children with several bags of luggage, he expressed deep concern about the uncertainty of his travel and his ability to leave the area.

A soldier drives a tank as Israeli forces are stationed near the border with Lebanon, in Israel, Oct 14, 2023. (PHOTO/AP)

Missiles toward S. Lebanon

An Israeli drone on Saturday morning launched several missiles toward an armed group at a border point in southern Lebanon, Lebanese military sources told Xinhua.

The unnamed sources added that the drone flew for several minutes along the borderline and then launched several air-to-surface missiles towards the axis of Hunin Hill in the central sector of the border area.

Initial information indicated that the drone targeted three armed individuals trying to approach the border fence separating Lebanon and Israel on this axis.

Israeli reports noted that "an Israeli drone worked to eliminate a cell of terrorists that attempted to infiltrate from Lebanon into Israel."

On the other hand, Lebanese security sources told Xinhua that Israel fired several artillery shells at dawn from one of its positions, called the radar site, toward a forest area in the town of Kfarchouba.

The sources added that a Patriot missile was launched from the occupied Syrian Golan for unknown reasons and exploded in the airspace of the Marjayoun area in southern Lebanon.

The fragments fell on the roofs of several houses in Ibl al-Saqi, adjacent to a command center of the United Nations Interim Force In Lebanon, the sources said, noting that no injuries were reported.

Syrian airport targeted

The international airport in Syria's northern province of Aleppo was hit by an Israeli missile strike on Saturday night, causing damage to the recently repaired runway, Syrian state TV reported.

The attack is the second hit to the Aleppo airport within three days following the Israeli strike on the airports in the capital Damascus and Aleppo on Thursday.

According to Bassem Mansour, the head of the Syrian Civil Aviation, the strike has temporarily halted airport operations, as it again caused damage to the runway.

The airport had resumed service earlier in the day after repairs were made following the previous attack.

Police officers evacuate a woman and a child from a site hit by a rocket fired from the Gaza Strip, in Ashkelon, southern Israel, Oct 7, 2023. (PHOTO / AP)

Medical supplies

A plane loaded with medical supplies from the World Health Organization (WHO) for the Gaza Strip landed Saturday at the El Arish airport in Egypt's Sinai Peninsula, said the Egyptian Red Crescent.

Khaled Zayed, head of the Egyptian Red Crescent North Sinai branch, confirmed the continuous delivery of urgent humanitarian aid to Gaza via a land bridge in coordination with the Palestine Red Crescent.

WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus announced sending the plane to El Arish airport "to support the urgent health needs in Gaza."

"We're ready to deploy the supplies as soon as humanitarian access through the crossing is established," Ghebreyesus posted on X, formerly known as Twitter.

Separately, Palestinian Health Minister Mai al-Kaila announced on Saturday that her ministry, in cooperation with the International Committee of the Red Cross, will send a shipment of medical aid to the besieged Gaza Strip on Sunday.

Al-Kaila told Xinhua that the Red Cross has reached an agreement with Israeli authorities to deliver much-needed medical supplies to hospitals facing a critical shortage.

The West Bank-based minister also noted that despite ongoing attempts to send medical missions and aid to the Gaza Strip from the beginning of the crisis, Israel has consistently refused the flow of medical personnel into the area.

The minister did not specify the exact quantity of aid to be delivered to Gaza but stressed that her ministry's teams are working diligently to ensure that the healthcare sector is well-prepared to provide medical services to the wounded.