Already, scores of citizens from countries outside the Middle East have been killed in the conflict.
Twenty-nine Americans died in the attacks by Hamas in Israel, U.S. officials said. France’s foreign ministry said Saturday that 17 French citizens were confirmed to have been killed. Twenty-four Thais have been killed and 13 have been wounded, Thailand’s Foreign Ministry said Saturday. The dead include citizens of Argentina, Australia, Austria, Belarus, Brazil, Britain, Cambodia, Canada, Chile, China, Colombia, Ireland, Nepal, Peru, the Philippines, Portugal, Romania, Russia, Switzerland, Ukraine and Turkey.
The United Nations reported last week that 11 of its workers had been killed in Israeli airstrikes. The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies said five of its members had been killed in the conflict.
The Israeli army said Saturday it was investigating the death of Issam Abdullah, a Reuters journalist who was killed on Friday night amid escalating clashes on Lebanon’s southern border with Israel. Six other journalists were injured in the incident.
There was a sense of urgency in northern Gaza on Saturday as Israel’s invasion loomed. Mohammed Ziara, a 30-year-old painter, was scrambling to leave and head south with his wife and two children. “There is no time,” he said by phone, his voice trembling.
Additional reporting by Isabel Kershner, Edward Wong, Iyad Abuheweila, Sergey Ponomarev, Aaron Boxerman, Raja Abdulrahim and Euan Ward.