Hezbollah 'fully prepared' to join Hamas in war with Israel as leaflets are dropped warning 1.1m to flee Gaza in 24hrs

LEBANESE’S Iran-backed Hezbollah has insisted it is “fully prepared” to join Hamas in its bloody war with Israel.

Fears of escalation come as leaflets drop in Gaza warning more than a million citizens to flee its northern parts as the Israeli army prepares to release its troops.

Palestinian women flee after Israeli attack in Gaza Credit: Alamy

Families clutch their belongings as they leave for safer areas of Gaza Credit: AFP

Israeli tanks occupy a position near Israel’s border with the Gaza StripCredit: Reuters

Israeli tanks and armored vehicles move towards the border with the Gaza StripCredit: AP

Israeli planes drop leaflets urging people to leave Gaza CityCredit: Avalon.red

A girl holds a leaflet dropped from an Israeli army plane, warning residents of an ‘imminent attack’Credit: Getty

Foreign powers have called on Hezbollah to stay away – but deputy chief Naim Qassem has vowed to join “when the time comes for action”.

He told supporters gathered in the southern suburbs of Beirut: “Behind-the-scenes appeals from major powers, Arab countries, United Nations envoys, telling us directly and indirectly not to interfere, will have no effect.

“Hezbollah knows its duties perfectly well. We are ready and prepared, fully prepared and monitoring developments from moment to moment.”

The group has already clashed with Israel across the Lebanese border several times in the past week.

Qassem added: “The question that is being asked, and that everyone is waiting for, is: what will Hezbollah do and what will its contribution be?

“We will contribute to the conflict within our plan…when the time comes for any action, we will carry it out.”

As the bloody war rages into its seventh day, Israel has urged those living in Gaza City to flee their homes as the war-torn country aims to root out Hamas in revenge for its gruesome attacks.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed to crush Hamas terrorists after gunmen stormed across the border and brutally killed men, women and children.

Flyers warning citizens of an “imminent attack” were seen falling in residential areas as panicked families grabbed their belongings and fled.

The Israeli army has massed 360,000 troops on the border as it prepares to launch a major ground offensive.

In a hint that the expected invasion was imminent, the IDF warned: “This evacuation is for your own safety.”

It added that Hamas militants are hiding inside tunnels under the city and inside buildings where citizens live.

It comes as…

The IDF said: “In the coming days, the IDF will continue to operate significantly in Gaza City and make great efforts to avoid harming civilians.”

In the last 24 hours, at least 13 Israeli and foreign hostages who were held in northern Gaza were killed in airstrikes.

But Hamas urged Palestinians to stay in their homes as it dismissed the orders as “false propaganda”.

The terrorist group took full control of the territory in 2007 after ousting the rival Fatah movement.

Meanwhile, the world is gearing up for so-called Jihad Day after the founder of Hamas called for Friday to be a global day of rage against supporters of Israel.

The evil Khaled Mashal has called for protests across the Muslim world in support of the Palestinians – saying he wants their “blood and souls”.

In France, a teacher was stabbed to death by a man shouting “Allahu Akbar”.

And in China, an Israeli diplomat was stabbed – while a large crowd of people tried to storm Israel’s border with Jordan.

It comes after sweeping evacuation orders for nearly half of Gaza’s 2.3 million residents were issued shortly before midnight, UN officials said.

All 1.1 million were told to leave north of Wadi Gaza, including Gaza City to the south, within 24 hours.

The Israeli military also sent an order directly on Friday morning, warning hundreds of thousands of Gaza City civilians to flee deeper south into the Gaza Strip.

It caused panic among civilians and workers who were already struggling under Israeli airstrikes and a blockade.

‘THIS IS CHAOS’

Inas Hamdan, an official with the UN agency for Palestine refugees in Gaza, said: “This is chaos, nobody understands what to do.”

She said all UN staff in Gaza City and northern Gaza were told to evacuate south to Rafah.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has warned of a “second Nakba” catastrophe facing Palestinians after the Israeli military issued an evacuation warning.

Abbas “totally rejects the displacement of our people from the Gaza Strip, as it will be tantamount to a second Nakba for our people,” he said, according to a statement carried by the official Palestinian news agency Wafa.

The Nakba, or “catastrophe,” refers to the approximately 760,000 Palestinians who fled or were driven from their homes during the 1948 war that coincided with the creation of Israel.

Meanwhile, Nebal Farsakh, spokesman for the Palestinian Red Crescent in Gaza City, said there was no way more than a million people could be safely relocated so soon.

She said: “Forget about food, forget about electricity, forget about fuel.

“The only concern now is whether you will succeed, whether you will survive.

“What will happen to our patients? We have the wounded, we have the elderly, we have children who are in hospitals.”

Israel halted all deliveries of food, water, fuel and medicine to the tiny enclave after Hamas launched an offensive on Saturday.

On Wednesday, Gaza’s only power plant ran out of fuel and was shut down – leaving only lights powered by scattered private generators.

Heartbreaking photos show bloodied babies and children crammed into hospital wards as doctors struggle to cope with demand.

A senior official of the International Committee of the Red Cross has warned that power shortages could cripple hospitals.

Farsakh said many medics refuse to evacuate hospitals and abandon patients.

A flurry of evacuation orders signal an already expected Israeli ground attack – but this has yet to be confirmed by the military.

British Defense Secretary Grant Shapps insisted that Israel had the right to defend itself.

Speaking to Sky News, the defense minister was asked whether the order to evacuate northern Gaza was feasible and acceptable to the Israelis.

Mr Shapps said: “Israel, unlike Hamas, is doing everything it can to give advance notice and warning so that they can go after those terrorists who carried out these actions and took hostages along the way.

“Hamas can bring all this to an end, they can release the hostages, they can recognize not only Israel, remove from their founding charter the principle of eradicating all Jews from the Earth.”

He added: “Israel, on the other hand, has a perfect right to defend itself. It does so in a way that gives people advance warning when they are going to attack the areas.”

Israel plans to send troops into Gaza after hundreds of Hamas terrorists went on a rampage for hours on Saturday and massacred at least 260 celebrants at a peace festival.

They are estimated to have dragged around 150 soldiers and civilians – including men, women, children and the elderly – into captivity in Gaza.