JERUSALEM/UNITED NATIONS/NICOSIA/PARIS - Israel's military spokesman Avichay Adraee said on Wednesday that the evacuation of Gaza City was "unavoidable," urging residents to head south ahead of "the next stage of the war".
In a video message posted in Arabic on social media platform X, Adraee said, "Every family that relocates to the south will receive the maximum humanitarian assistance currently being prepared." He claimed that the military was bringing in tents and preparing sites for aid distribution centers, water lines, and other facilities.
Adraee denied what he called "false rumors" that there was no space left in the south, saying there were "vast empty areas" in central Gaza camps and in al-Mawasi.
The planned offensive -- already in its early stages, according to the military -- involves mass displacement and the destruction of Gaza's main urban center, where famine has already taken hold. Rights groups and aid officials have warned that moving hundreds of thousands of displaced people into the central camps and the narrow coastal strip of al-Mawasi risks extreme overcrowding. The area is only a few square kilometers and lacks basic infrastructure, raising fears of disease outbreaks and worsening hunger.
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Heavy strikes continued overnight in Khan Younis in southern Gaza and in the north. The military said troops from the Givati Brigade were engaged in operations in Jabaliya and on the outskirts of Gaza City to expand its push and prevent militants from regrouping.
Ten more Palestinians died of starvation in the past 24 hours, including two children, bringing the death toll from famine and malnutrition to 313, among them 119 children, the Gaza health authorities said.
Israeli strikes and gunfire have killed at least 62,819 people and wounded 158,629 in Gaza since the war began, according to the authorities.
Ceasefire call
UN Security Council members except the United States on Wednesday called for an immediate ceasefire as well as the reversal of Israel's decision to expand its military operations in Gaza.
"We call for an immediate, unconditional and permanent ceasefire. We call for the immediate, dignified and unconditional release of all hostages held by Hamas and other groups. We call for a substantive surge of humanitarian assistance throughout Gaza," said the 14 countries in a joint statement.
The 14 countries also called on Israel to immediately reverse its decision to further expand its military operations in Gaza with the aim of taking over Gaza City.
"This decision, which we reject, will inevitably worsen the already horrific humanitarian situation and endanger the lives of all civilians, including the hostages," says the statement read out by Trishala Simantini Persaud, Guyana's deputy permanent representative to the UN, and Ondina Blokar Drobic, Slovenia's deputy permanent representative to the UN.
READ MORE: UN confirms famine in Gaza, warns of catastrophic spread
The 14 countries are: Algeria, China, Denmark, France, Greece, Guyana, Pakistan, Panama, the Republic of Korea, Russia, Sierra Leone, Slovenia, Somalia and the United Kingdom.
The 14 countries said that Israel must immediately and unconditionally lift all restrictions on aid delivery, including opening all land routes and allowing the United Nations and humanitarian partners to operate safely and at scale.
They said humanitarian principles of humanity, neutrality, impartiality and independence must be central to humanitarian action.
Famine halt
The UN humanitarian chief on Wednesday called for an immediate, sustained cessation of hostilities in Gaza to prevent further loss of life and to stop famine from expanding.
Over half a million people currently face starvation, destitution and death. By the end of September, that number could exceed 640,000, said UN Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator Tom Fletcher in a briefing to the Security Council delivered on his behalf by his deputy, Joyce Msuya.
The Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) Famine Review Committee on Friday confirmed that famine is occurring in Gaza and is projected to expand further to Deir al-Balah and Khan Younis cities by the end of September, noted Fletcher.
He said that approximately 1 million people are in IPC Phase 4. And over 390,000 are in IPC Phase 3. Virtually no one in Gaza is untouched by hunger.
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IPC Phase 3 means an acute food and livelihood crisis. IPC Phase 4 means humanitarian emergency, one step before IPC Phase 5, which means famine.
At least 132,000 children under the age of 5 are expected to suffer from acute malnutrition between now and mid-2026. The number of those at risk of death among them has now tripled to over 43,000. For pregnant and breastfeeding women, that number is predicted to surge from 17,000 to 55,000, said Fletcher.
The famine in Gaza is also the result of a destroyed food production system where 98 percent of the cropland is damaged or otherwise inaccessible, and where livestock is decimated, he said, adding that 22 months of restricted and compromised delivery of essential humanitarian and commercial supplies, degraded health and nutrition systems, lack of adequate shelter, and broken water, sanitation and hygiene networks, also caused the famine.
He warned that failure to act now will have irreversible consequences, saying that the Security Council and all UN member states must act immediately to ensure an immediate, sustained cessation of hostilities in Gaza, the immediate and unconditional release of all hostages, and the protection of civilians and critical infrastructure.
Also, they must ensure safe, rapid and unimpeded humanitarian access, and the restoration of commercial flows of essential goods at scale, market systems, essential services and local food production, said Fletcher.
Aid ship delayed off Israel
The fate of a humanitarian aid shipment from Cyprus to Gaza was in question on Wednesday after local media reported the vessel had failed to dock as scheduled and its cargo remained off the Israeli coast.
The Cyprus Mail, citing satellite data, said the Panamanian-flagged Henke was anchored near the Israeli port city of Ashdod on Wednesday morning. The ship, carrying about 1,200 tons of supplies, had not entered the port as expected.
The vessel's arrival was initially planned for last week, with revised estimates pointing to Sunday or Monday. There has been no confirmation that the aid has been unloaded.
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The shipment is part of the Amalthea project, a maritime aid corridor launched in 2023 from Cyprus to Gaza. The route was suspended in April 2024 after an Israeli airstrike killed several aid workers but resumed recently.
Cypriot officials have denied any deliberate delays, with the foreign ministry saying there was "no problem" with the transfer, said the newspaper. Authorities have reiterated their commitment to ensuring aid reaches civilians in Gaza despite logistical and operational hurdles.
Cyprus set up the Amalthea project to open a sea route for humanitarian relief to the enclave, complementing limited land crossings.
Support for Palestine
French President Emmanuel Macron on Tuesday rejected Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's recent claims of rising antisemitism in France, stressing in an open letter that the fight against antisemitism must not be "weaponized".
Macron made the remarks in response to a letter from Netanyahu dated Aug 17, in which the Israeli leader accused him of pouring "fuel on this antisemitic fire" by planning to recognize the State of Palestine in September.
"Our determination to ensure that the Palestinian people have a State is rooted in our belief that a lasting peace is essential to the State of Israel's security, to its full regional integration in a Middle East at last at peace, and to a shift towards normalization that we support and that must be allowed to come to fruition as swiftly as possible," Macron wrote in the letter.
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A lasting peace would require the creation of a demilitarized sovereign Palestinian state that recognizes Israel and its right to security, he added.
Speaking of Israel's recent ground offensive on Gaza, Macron warned Netanyahu that such a measure would impact the lives of the Israeli people for decades to come and impose an unbearable cost on their Palestinian neighbors.
"The occupation of Gaza, the forced displacement of Palestinians, the deliberate imposition of famine, the hateful dehumanizing speeches, and the annexation of the West Bank will never yield a lasting victory for Israel," he wrote.
