As the Israeli army faces increasing skirmishes with Hezbollah along the northern border of Israel with Lebanon, a substantial evacuation is underway.
Over the past 24 hours, evacuation orders have been issued for 14 communities, with an additional 28 settlements receiving similar directives last week.
These evacuation measures have triggered mixed reactions within the affected communities. Some residents express frustration and doubts about their safety during the evacuation process.
This large-scale evacuation underscores the palpable anxiety and unease prevailing in the region due to escalating military tensions.
Meanwhile, in the Gaza Strip, the Palestinian community is mourning the loss of Rushdi Sarraj, a talented photojournalist who fell victim to an Israeli attack on his residence.
Sarraj was renowned for his exceptional photographic skills, creatively conveying the stories of the Gazans enduring conflict and prolonged blockades. Colleagues, including internationally acclaimed photojournalist Wissam Nassar, paid heartfelt tributes to his memory.
Ali Jadallah, a Palestinian photojournalist affiliated with Turkey's Anadolu Agency, shared an image of Sarraj's purported body bag, confirming the tragic loss.
These parallel narratives of Israeli evacuations along the Lebanese border and the devastating loss of photojournalist Rushdi Sarraj in Gaza serve as poignant reminders of the ongoing tensions and violence in the region, encapsulating the complex challenges inherent in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
The Israeli military on Sunday launched an airstrike on a mosque in the Jenin refugee camp of the occupied West Bank as it announced intensifying strikes on Gaza ahead of a planned ground invasion while the Pentagon said it was bolstering defences in the Middle East over "escalations" by Iran and its allies.
The Israeli military claimed it killed "operatives" from Hamas and Islamic Jihad in an air strike on Al-Ansar mosque in Jenin, in the West Bank, beneath which was a command centre used for planning and execution.
It said the targeted individuals had carried out "several terror attacks over the last months and were organising an additional imminent terror attack," stating they were "neutralised" without providing details on the number of killed or their identities.
The director of the Red Crescent in Jenin, Mahmoud Al-Saadi, was quoted by the Palestinian news agency Wafa saying one person was martyred and three others injured in the strike, AFP reported.
Dozens of people have been martyred in the occupied West Bank by Israeli troops or settlers since October 7, when Hamas gunmen stormed into Israel and killed at least 1,400 people, most of them civilians, according to Israeli officials.
Meanwhile, Israel has launched a heavy bombardment of the Gaza Strip in retaliation, which has martyred over 4,741 Palestinians, mostly civilians including 1,000 children, according to the Gaza health ministry.
A first trickle of aid entered the Palestinian enclave from Egypt on Saturday, but the 20 trucks permitted to cross have been described as a "drop in the ocean" given the needs of 2.4 million residents.
According to an Al Jazeera correspondent, Sara Khairat, the Israeli air attack on the Jenin refugee camp in the occupied West Bank took residents “by surprise”, but it appears there may still be more to come.
“Eyewitness spoke to us and said they saw an F-fighter jet in the sky, they heard it and then the Israeli army came out to confirm it was an air strike,” said Khairat live from Ramallah.
The air strike targeted a mosque associated with the Jenin Brigade, labelled an “underground terrorist group” by Israel.
The mosque was the site of a two-day Israeli siege in July when Israeli forces found a network of tunnels and seized equipment, drones, and ammunition, she said.
Following the attack, some residents received text messages on their phones warning them to avoid collaborating with the Jenin Brigade, one of the largest and most popular groups in the West Bank. The messages also said to keep children inside.
There are also unconfirmed reports of an Israeli officer calling residents and telling them to turn their “youngsters” over to the police by 7am.
The conflict has touched off fresh violence in the West Bank, where dozens of Palestinians have been martyred in Israeli raids and settler attacks.
On Israel's northern border with Lebanon, the military continued to trade fire with the resistance group Hezbollah, which said four of its fighters had been martyred. A member of Palestinian Islamic Jihad was also reportedly martyred.
Israeli authorities reported three soldiers wounded, one of them seriously, in Hezbollah anti-tank fire on the village of Baram, and two Thai farm workers were also wounded.
Western leaders have warned Hezbollah against intervening in the conflict, but the group's number two said it stood ready to step up involvement.
"Let's be clear, as events unfold if something comes up that calls for greater intervention by us, we will do so," Naim Qassem said.
Israel has evacuated dozens of northern communities, and nearly 4,000 people in Lebanon have fled border areas for the southern city of Tyre.
"All my children are young. If the apocalypse comes, how will I get them all out in one go?" said Mustafa al-Sayyid, in a classroom stripped of desks and dotted with thin mattresses. "So I thought, better to leave now."
Over 40% of all housing has been damaged or destroyed, according to the UN citing local authorities, and Israel has halted the delivery of food, water, fuel and electricity.
Israel will now intensify its bombardment, to minimise the risks to its troops when they begin a ground invasion, military spokesman Admiral Daniel Hagari said.
"From today, we are increasing the strikes and minimising the danger," he said. "We will increase the attacks and therefore I called on Gaza City residents to continue moving south for their safety."
Israel has warned more than one million residents of the northern part of Gaza to move south for their safety, and the UN says more than half the enclave's population is now internally displaced.
Bombardment has continued in southern parts of the Strip though, with Hamas authorities reporting nine martyred in an airstrike in Khan Younis overnight.
Hundreds of thousands of civilians are believed to remain in and around Gaza City in the north, unwilling or unable to leave.
The conflict has raised fears of a broader regional war, and Washington said it would deploy defence batteries and additional Patriot battalions to protect US forces.
The Pentagon also said it was notifying additional troops to "prepare to deploy orders" without specifying how many or when they could be dispatched.
The Pentagon moved Saturday to step up US military readiness in the Middle East in response to what it said were "recent escalations by Iran and its proxy forces" across the region.
US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin ordered the activation of air defence systems and notified additional forces that they may be deployed soon. However, he did not say how many US troops would be added to those already in the region.
The Pentagon's moves came after what Austin described in a statement as "detailed discussions" with President Joe Biden.
"These steps will bolster regional deterrence efforts, increase force protection for US forces in the region, and assist in the defense of Israel," Austin said.
Israel has vowed to destroy Hamas and says around 1,500 of the group's fighters were martyred in clashes before its army regained control of the area initially under attack.
Austin said he had activated deployment of a Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) battery and additional Patriot battalions "throughout the region."
"Finally, I have placed an additional number of forces on prepare-to-deploy orders as part of prudent contingency planning, to increase their readiness and ability to quickly respond as required," Austin said.
Tensions are rising along Israel's northern border with Lebanon after the Israeli military clashed with Iran-backed resistance group Hezbollah, leading to fears of a new front opening as Israel battles Hamas.
Hezbollah reported four fighters martyred in south Lebanon, while Palestinian resistance group Islamic Jihad claims one was martyred. Armed factions close to Iran have threatened to attack US interests in Iraq over Washington's support for Israel.
US troops stationed at two bases in Iraq were targeted with rocket attacks Friday that caused no casualties.
Since Wednesday, three Iraqi bases used by US-led coalition troops have been targeted in five separate attacks — Ain al-Assad, the Al-Harir base in northern Iraq and a military camp near Baghdad airport.
Israeli troops have massed on the border with Gaza and commanders visited frontline units on Saturday to rally troops.
"We will enter Gaza," Chief of Staff Lieutenant General Herzi Halevi told one infantry brigade on a visit. "Gaza is densely populated, the enemy is preparing a lot of things there — but we are also preparing for them," Halevi said.
A ground invasion poses myriad challenges for Israeli troops, who are likely to be confronted by Hamas booby traps and tunnels in a densely packed urban environment.
The safety of over 200 hostages abducted by Hamas is another complicating factor.
Two American hostages were released on Friday evening, after mediation from Qatar, which said more could be freed "very soon."
"We are taking a path that will very soon lead to the release of the hostages, especially civilians," Qatari foreign ministry spokesman Majed Al-Ansari told the German Welt am Sonntag newspaper Saturday.
"We are currently working on an agreement under which all civilian hostages will be initially released," he added.
After negotiations and US pressure, food, water and medicine, but no fuel, crossed from Egypt into Gaza on Saturday. The crossing closed afterwards, and UN officials warned much more was needed.
"Gaza was a desperate humanitarian situation before the most recent hostilities," five UN agencies said in a statement. "It is now catastrophic. The world must do more."
At a peace summit in Egypt, UN chief Antonio Guterres urged a humanitarian ceasefire "to end this godawful nightmare".
The summit ended without a joint statement, however, with Western officials demanding a clear condemnation of Hamas, and Arab attendees issuing their own statement criticising world leaders.
Inside Gaza, shellshocked residents said they were unsure where to go or how to protect their families.
"Even in my worst nightmares, I never thought this could be possible," said Rami Abu Wazna, staring at the destruction in central Gaza's Al-Zahra neighbourhood.
The scale of the bombing has left basic systems unable to function, with the UN reporting around 40 unidentified bodies were buried in a mass grave in Gaza City on Saturday because cold storage ran out before they could be identified.
Across the border in Israel's Kibbutz Beeri, where Hamas fighters killed 10% of the population, preparations were underway for funerals on Sunday.
Romy Gold, 70, said residents were still struggling to comprehend the horror of their experience.
"Around us whole families were shot or butchered or burned alive," he told AFP. Like many, he believes a ground invasion of Gaza "cannot come fast enough. Something needs to be done."
"We need some kind of assurance that it will not happen again," he said.
US-based Muslim cleric was accused of organising failed 2016 coup against Erdogan
Millions of people left without electricity for more than two days after grid's initial failure
Of the 2.5 million species of fungus thought to exist on Earth, scientists have "described" around 150,000 — 6%
Recently-elected IIOJK Chief Minister Omar Abdullah strongly condemns attack on "non-local labourers"
Manufacturing of musical instrument takes around a week, with craftsmen working on multiple bagpipes simultaneously
Ex-military commander takes oath after 8-month transition period following convincing election win in Indonesia
