Citizens evacuate in both Gaza and Israel as water turned on in southern Gaza Strip

In a possible attempt to urge Gazans to move south that was coupled with international pressure, Israel turned on the water supply Sunday to the southern portion of the Gaza Strip.

By Madeleine Hubbard

Published: October 15, 2023 3:42pm

Citizens are still being told to evacuate from northern Gaza as well as from parts of Israel near the Gaza border, as Israel turned on the water in southern Gaza on Sunday and Egypt opened its lone border crossing into the Gaza Strip, which is controlled by the U.S. State Department-designated foreign terrorist organization Hamas.

The updates come as the number of people in Israel killed in the brutal Hamas terror attack last Saturday rose to more than 1,400, including at least 29 U.S. citizens and many women, children and elderly, the Israel Defense Forces told CNN on Sunday.

The Gaza border town of Sderot is evacuating Sunday, with residents going to hotels across the country, according to "The Times of Israel," after Hamas terrorists stormed the town last week and took over the police station. While the evacuation of Sderot is not mandatory, it is highly recommended before the IDF begins ground operations in Gaza.

Meanwhile, the IDF has been urging residents in the northern part of the Gaza Strip to evacuate south, with an evacuation window from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. local time on Sunday. Hamas, meanwhile, has been urging Gazans to remain in place and are even taking residents' identification cards and car keys to keep them in the north, a Gazan said in a phone call with an IDF intelligence officer who was urging the resident to leave.

In a possible attempt to urge Gazans to move south that was coupled with international pressure, Israel turned on the water supply Sunday to the southern portion of the Gaza Strip.

Additionally, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Sunday said that the Rafah crossing between Egypt and Gaza would be open after he met with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, who had said last week that Gaza residents must "remain on their land."

Israel had closed all of its border crossings into Gaza after the attack Saturday, which was the bloodiest day for Jews since the Holocaust.

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