Troops Told to Prepare to See Gaza 'From the Inside'

Israel is bombarding Gaza and evacuating a sizable town near the Lebanese border in the latest sign of a potential ground invasion of Gaza that could trigger regional turmoil. Palestinians in Gaza reported heavy airstrikes in Khan Younis in the south, where people had been told to seek safety, and ambulances streamed into Gaza's second-largest hospital, already overflowing with patients and people seeking shelter, the AP reports. Israel's defense minister has ordered troops to prepare to see Gaza "from the inside," hinting at a ground offensive aimed at crushing Gaza's militant Hamas rulers. Aid shipments badly needed in Gaza are positioned to enter through the Rafah border crossing from Egypt.

Satellite photos analyzed Friday by the AP show a massive convoy of tractor-trailers lined up at the Rafah crossing, likely waiting for approval to cross. The Gaza Strip, home to over 2 million Palestinians, has been cut off from food, water, fuel, and electricity by Israel since Hamas' Oct. 7 attack. There have been days of high-level negotiations over aid getting into the besieged enclave, including officials all the way up to President Biden. The deal to get aid into Gaza through Rafah, the territory's only crossing not controlled by Israel, remains fragile. Israel said the supplies could only go to civilians and that it would "thwart" any diversions by Hamas.

More than 200 trucks and some 3,000 tons of aid are positioned at or near Rafah. Egypt is working to repair the bomb-damaged crossing, the BBC reports. In Gaza's Old City, an explosion struck a Greek Orthodox church housing displaced Palestinians late Thursday, resulting in deaths and dozens of wounded. Mohammed Abu Selmia, director general of Shifa Hospital, said dozens were hurt at the Church of Saint Porphyrios but could not give a precise death toll because bodies were still under the rubble. Palestinian authorities blamed the blast on an Israeli airstrike, a claim that could not be independently verified. The Greek Orthodox Patriarchy of Jerusalem issued a statement condemning the attack and said it would "not abandon its religious and humanitarian duty" to provide assistance.

(More Israel-Hamas war stories.)