What happened over the weekend in the Israel-Hamas conflict

The ongoing war between Israel and Hamas officially entered its second week on Saturday. Here’s what you need to know:

✈️ Israel continued its airstrikes on Gaza, while fending off an outside attack. Israel carried out retaliatory airstrikes yesterday against several Lebanon-based militant groups (including Hezbollah), after they launched at least six strikes into Israeli territory from the northern border.

In the Gaza Strip, Israel’s military has dropped more than 6,000 bombs on nearly 3,000 targets since the war began on October 7, killing more than 2,300 Palestinians – including a Hamas commander responsible for this month’s surprise attack – and injuring nearly 10,000 others.

• Officials over the weekend confirmed at least 1,400 Israelis were killed and 155 others were taken captive in the Hamas attack nine days ago, which marks the worst single-day death toll for Jews since the Holocaust.

📝 Israel’s military is preparing for a ground invasion of Gaza. While an official decision has yet to be announced, Israeli planes dropped leaflets over northern Gaza on Friday telling an estimated 1.1 million Palestinians – or half of the region’s population – to evacuate their homes within 24 hours and relocate to the south.

• The evacuation order from Israel received immediate backlash from the UN and international human rights groups, which warned a forced relocation of that size would have "devastating humanitarian consequences."
• Israel ultimately walked back the 24-hour deadline on Friday evening, but said it was still committed to the overall evacuation plan.
• Hamas has called on Palestinians living in northern Gaza to ignore Israel’s evacuation order, though the militant group hasn’t prevented any residents from leaving.

🇵🇸 The humanitarian situation in Gaza is worsening. The UN warned that hospitals across Gaza had an estimated 48 hours of backup power remaining as of late Saturday, with any shutdown threatening the lives of thousands of patients. UN officials also said all Gaza residents will be forced to drink dirty water for the foreseeable future, after treatment plants ran out of fuel over the weekend due to an Israeli-imposed embargo.

📊 Flash poll: We asked for your initial reactions to the Israel-Hamas conflict on Friday (keep scrolling down to read them). But if you feel compelled to share more thoughts on the unfolding situation, you can do so below.

• Click here to leave a response.