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  6.  » Fears of all-out war grow in Middle East as Israel evacuates villages close to Lebanon after Iran-backed Hezbollah vowed to ‘respond’ to invasion

Israeli missiles from its Iron Dome system intercept missiles fired from Gaza over Ashkelon

Rachael Bunyan and Nick Fagge – Daily Mail Oct 16, 2023

Israel today evacuated civilians living in villages close to the border with Lebanon after the Iran-backed terror group Hezbollah vowed to ‘respond’ to any move to invade Gaza as fears of an all-out war in the Middle East grow.

The military issued the order to residents living within two kilometres of the Israeli-Lebanese border as Israel fears reprisals from Hezbollah for its imminent invasion of the Gaza Strip.

Residents of the 28 villages and settlements will be put up in guesthouses in towns in the centre of Israel that are considered safer – but Hezbollah’s huge arsenal of rockets can strike any target in Israel including the main city Tel Aviv.

The evacuation order comes as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned the nation was ‘approaching a fateful hour’ with more than 400,000 Israeli soldiers now gearing up for a battle in Gaza that will see street-fighting erupt in the tiny 25-mile long enclave.

Palestinians search for suvivors under the rubble of a house destroyed by Israeli strikes on Khan Younis in southern Gaza. Click to enlarge

More than one million people have now fled their homes in northern Gaza in scenes of chaos and despair in a desperate attempt to escape Israel’s imminent invasion and continued aerial bombardment of the Hamas-ruled territory.

But the United Nations has warned that a ‘spectre of death’ looms over Gaza where millions are stranded amid Israel’s total siege that is blocking food, water, medicine and fuel from reaching the enclave.

The enclave’s food and water supplies are running dangerously low, and its hospitals are warning that they are on the verge of collapse, with medics saying health centres are quickly turning into morgues.

Israel declared war on Hamas terrorists on Sunday – a day after waves of its gunmen broke through the border and massacred 1,300 Israelis including women and children.

In the days since, Israel has launched a relentless barrage of airstrikes that have obliterated entire neighbourhoods in Gaza and killed 2,670 Palestinians and wounded 9,600 more civilians.

But undeterred by the comments of human rights observers over recent days, Netanyahu said preparations were being made around the clock to launch the ground offensive, with nearly 400,000 soldiers gearing up for battle in Gaza.

He pledged: ‘They are ready to take action to defeat the bloodthirsty monsters who have risen against us to destroy us. Hamas thought that we would come apart – we will demolish Hamas.’

The Israeli military’s rules of engagement have reportedly been ‘loosened’ for the land, air and sea attack to allow fewer checks before shooting.

Israeli forces, supported by a growing deployment of U.S. warships in the region and the call-up of some 360,000 reservists, positioned themselves along Gaza’s border and drilled for what Israel said would be a broad campaign to dismantle the terror group.

But Hamas-backer Iran and Lebanon’s terror group Hezbollah, which is also supported by Tehran, have warned that an invasion of Gaza would be met with a response.

And yesterday rockets, artillery fire and anti-tank shells were exchanged between Lebanon and Israel, threatening to drag the region into open warfare.

As Israeli jets have carried out bombing runs in Lebanon, the IDF threatened to ‘destroy’ the country if Hezbollah entered the war.

Tzachi Hanegbi, an Israeli national security advisor, has warned the Iran-sponsored terror group to stand down from creating a second combat front – or reckon with ‘the destruction of Lebanon’.

Iran’s foreign minister threatened ‘no one can guarantee non-expansion of war’ if Israel invaded Gaza.

Meanwhile US President Joe Biden, who has repeatedly proclaimed support for Israel, said that while invading and ‘taking out the extremists’ was needed, any move by Israel to occupy Gaza would be a ‘big mistake’. The warning comes just days after Biden said Israel’s retaliatory action must be ‘according to the rule of law’.

Thousands of families have fled their homes in the north of Gaza, carrying whatever belongings they can , following an Israeli order to move south.

‘No electricity, no water, no internet. I feel like I’m losing my humanity,’ said Mona Abdel Hamid, 55, who fled Gaza City to Rafah in the south of the enclave, and is having to stay with strangers.

Earlier today, two Egyptian security forces said Egypt had agreed to re-open the Rafah border crossing for eight hours between 6am to 2pm GMT. They also said a ceasefire agreed upon by Egypt, Israel and the US will coincide with the opening of the border crossing and would last for several hours.

But half an hour later, Israel appeared to deny on Monday that a truce was under way in southern Gaza. ‘There is currently no truce and humanitarian aid in Gaza in exchange for getting foreigners out,’ a statement from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said.

Continues …