Israel-Hamas war | Day 8: Military evacuates civilians in Gaza city, gears up for ground offensive

Palestinians and some Egyptian officials fear that Israel ultimately hopes to push Gaza's people out through the southern border with Egypt.

Currently, people are struggling to flee from northern Gaza while also grappling with a growing water crisis after Israel stopped the flow of resources to the Gaza Strip. No decision on a ground offensive has been announced, although Israel has been massing troops along the Gaza border. An Israeli shell landed in a gathering of international journalists covering clashes on the border in southern Lebanon on Friday, killing one and wounding six. The war has claimed at least 3,200 lives since Hamas launched an incursion on October 7.

United States Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin has assured Israel: “We have your back”.

Here’s a look at what’s new in the Israel-Hamas conflict.

War monitor says Israel attacked airport in Northern Syria

A Syrian opposition war monitor and a pro-government media outlet say Israel's military has attacked the international airport of the northern city of Aleppo, putting it out of service.

Al-Watan daily said the Saturday night strike hit the runway of Aleppo airport — putting it out of service just hours after it was fixed following a similar Israeli strike on Thursday.

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights also reported that the strike also hit the runway at Aleppo airport. The attack on Aleppo airport came shortly after a rocket was reportedly fired from Syria into the Israeli-controlled Golan Heights. On Thursday, Israeli struck the runways in Aleppo and Damascus International Airport. Aleppo was fixed within a day before it was again targeted on Saturday. There was no immediate comment from Israel's military, which rarely confirms such strikes.

World Health Organisation sends supplies for Gaza

A planeload of World Health Organization (WHO) supplies has landed at Egypt’s el-Arish airport and is destined for Gaza when humanitarian access across the border is possible, the UN said on Saturday.

The cache includes enough basic essentials for 300,000 people and enough trauma medicines and materials for 1,200 wounded, the UN said in a release. It called for opening the Rafah border crossing immediately to humanitarian deliveries.

“The critically injured, the sick and the vulnerable cannot wait," the world body said.

Israel says it is striking military targets in Syria

The Israeli military says it is striking targets in Syria after air raid sirens went off in two villages in northern Israel and the Israeli-controlled Golan Heights. In a statement, the military did not say what set off the sirens. It said it was firing artillery to strike back. The incident is the latest in a continued flare-up along Israel's northern border with Lebanon and Syria after an unprecedented attack by Hamas on Israeli communities set off a war with Israel.

Families of Israeli hostages say some of their loved ones need medicine

The relatives of Israelis taken captive by Hamas are demanding Saturday that the militant group allow in medicine to hostages who require it, saying their loved ones are suffering.

“Every day without her medication is torture. She's being tortured," said Yifat Zailer, who said her kidnapped 63-year-old aunt has Parkinson's disease. She was taken along with several other family members, Zailer said.

In its assault on southern Israeli communities, Hamas militants captured dozens of Israelis and some foreign or dual nationals, including children, women and the elderly, dragging them into the Gaza Strip.

Israeli military spokesman Read Adm. Daniel Hagari said on Saturday Israel had so far identified 126 captives. Their fate becomes more complicated as Israel continues its bombardment of Gaza.

Germany to start evacuating its citizens

The German army will start evacuating its citizens from Israel with military airplanes. German news agency DPA reported that two A400M military transports were on their way from Germany to Israel on Saturday evening and further flights were planned, according to the German defense ministry.

In recent days, the German government helped with the evacuation of around 2,800 German citizens and their family members from Israel following Hamas' attack on the country a week ago.

So far, they were predominantly flown out by civilian airplanes or brought across the border to Jordan by buses. German carrier Lufthansa stopped its scheduled flights from Israel at the beginning of the week, but it deployed a limited number of evacuation flights which ended on Saturday. More than 100,000 residents of Israel hold dual German and Israeli citizenship.

Hezbollah fighter dies during exchange with Israeli troops

Lebanon's militant Hezbollah group says one of its fighters was killed during an exchange of fire with Israeli troops on Saturday. Hezbollah's Al-Manar TV identified the dead fighter as Ali Youssef Alaaeddine. It gave no other details, saying his death happened "during the Zionist aggression on south Lebanon today." Alaaeddine is the fourth Hezbollah fighter killed since tensions increased along the Lebanon-Israel border following the deadly attack by the Palestinian group Hamas on southern Israel October 7. The war has since claimed at least 3,200 lives.

Erdogan's son joins pro-Palestinian march in Istanbul

The son of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan participated in a large pro-Palestinian march in Istanbul on Saturday. Bilal Erdogan was accompanied by former Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu and former speaker of Turkish parliament Mustafa Sentop.

“Let us make clear our side, we should at least let our feelings be heard," Erdogan told The Associated Press.

The crowd of over 1,000 people carried Palestinian and Turkish flags while chanting slogans criticizing Israel and the United States.

Speaking to the AP, Sentop said, "Everyone with a conscience, regardless of race or religion, are displaying their sentiments toward this genocide."

(With inputs from agencies)