Announcer this is cnn breaking news. Hello and welcome, everyone. Im michael holmes, and we continue our breaking News Coverage of israel at war. And there are growing signs this hour that an Israeli Military Ground Operation into gaza could get under way at any moment. After a week of air strikes and artillery aimed at hamas inside gaza and a hastily ordered evacuation of up to a million civilians from gaza city, israel declared on saturday that it is ready to open a new phase in te war with a focus on, quote, significant Ground Operations. Earlier israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met soldiers on the front lines. You see him there offering words of support, telling them to be prepared. Also on saturday iran warned farreaching consequences if the israeli attacks dont stop. The Iranian Foreign minister met with a senior hamas official for the First Time Since the fighting began, and there is deep concern that iran and its proxies might try to escalate the conflict especially al
The Breaking News continues right here on cnn. Im wolf blitzer in washington. Our special coverage of Israel At War continues. Were following the very dangerous race to evacuate parts of gaza right now. The State Department telling u. S. Citizens in gaza they may want to move closer to the critical rafa Border Crossing in the southern part of gaza thats closer to egypt, because there may be very little notice if that rafa opening does open. This comes amid reports that egypt was not allowing u. S. Citizens to enter the country at that crossing. More than a million civilians in gaza are under israeli orders to try to flee to the south. An Idf Spokesman told me gazans should press on with the evacuation even after the Safe Passage Deadline expired. President netanyahu visiting front line soldiers today near gaza, telling them to be ready for the next stage of this war as Israeli Forces pound the territory from the air and amass huge numbers of Ground Troops near the border with gaza. The
Good morning. Welcome to cnn this morning. Et im victor blackwell. And im amara walker. Were in the final window of the Safe Passage Window for people to evacuate to the south. Gazas Health Care Facilities in the north say they will not be evacuating, saying this warning is a Death Sentence for patients. The Israel Defense forces is accusing hamas of actively trying to stop people from leaving so that they can use them as, quote, human shields, but hamas says that israel is still carrying out air strikes. Now, cnn has verified videos from the scene of a large explosion along an Evacuation Route south of gaza city. We want to warn you this video is disturbing. Yeah. This was recorded friday before the Safe Passage Window was set up. Look closely here. Youll see the plumes of smoke, the cars burping. Hamas says 70 people were killed in this strike, 200 others were wounded. Cnn has reached out to the idf for comment on any air strikes in that area. Now, the sudden surge of people into Sou