These are the deep contradictions at the heart of Sunni Hamas, their perhaps unlikely allies in Shia Iran, and how - together - they threaten to destabilise the world.
READ MORE:Gaza was last night braced for invasion after 1.2 million civilians were told to flee for their lives.
In a statement, the IDF said it would 'operate significantly' within Gaza City 'in the coming days', telling Palestinians: 'You will only be able to return to Gaza when another announcement permitting it is made.' More than 300 children have been killed and 300,000 displaced since Israel launched sustained retaliatory air attacks on Gaza
But an exodus was already under way following a week of air strikes and blockades in retaliation for last Saturday's Hamas raids that left more than 1,300 dead. Families in cars, trucks and donkey carts packed with blankets and possessions streamed down a main road out of Gaza City As night fell, Hamas claimed 70 people, including women and children, had been killed in Israeli air strikes on those fleeing the de facto capital.
Senior EU officials and Israeli president Isaac Herzog were forced to seek cover in protected shelters as air-raid sirens sounded across Tel Aviv. Both the United Nations and the World Health Organisation have urgently called on Israel to revoke the evacuation order, saying it will result in a humanitarian disaster whether people can flee or not.
A statement from the World Health Organisation said: 'WHO joins the wider United Nations in appealing to Israel to immediately rescind orders for the evacuation of over 1 million people living north of Wadi Gaza. Médecins Sans Frontières said on Friday evening that Israel had given Al Awda Hospital in Gaza 'just two hours to evacuate', causing panic in one of the most vulnerable spaces.'We unequivocally condemn this action, the continued indiscriminate bloodshed and attacks on health care in Gaza. We are trying to protect our staff and patients.'
Life saving machines running on generators are soon expected to stop working across the strip as doctors work around the clock to save the lives of men, women and children swept into the conflict. The comments come in spite of attempts - mediated by US President Joe Biden - to facilitate normalisation of relations between Israel and Saudi Arabia, a move unfavourable to Hamas.
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