Israeli defence minister tells army to set plans for Palestinians to leave Gaza
Jerusalem, Feb 6 (AP): Israel's defence minister says he has instructed the army to prepare plans for large numbers of Palestinians to leave the Gaza Strip in line with President Donald Trump's proposal for the war-ravaged territory.
Defence Minister Israel Katz on Thursday said the plan “will include options for exit at land crossings as well as special arrangements for exit by sea and air.”
He said he welcomed Trump's “bold plan, which could allow a large population in Gaza to leave for various places in the world.”
He did not say whether Palestinians would be able to one day return to Gaza, which has been rendered largely uninhabitable by Israel's 15-month military campaign against Hamas.
Trump on Wednesday proposed that most of Gaza's population be “permanently” resettled elsewhere while the United States rebuilds the territory.
US officials later said the relocation would only be temporary, but Palestinians fear Israel would never allow them to return, deepening and perpetuating a refugee crisis dating back to the establishment of the state.
Trump's plan was roundly rejected by the Palestinians and much of the international community. Rights groups said it would amount to forcible displacement in violation of international law.
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4.4 magnitude quake hits northern Pakistan
Islamabad (PTI): A 4.4 magnitude earthquake jolted parts of north and northwestern Pakistan on Saturday, the second tremor to hit the country in as many days.
There were no immediate reports of casualties or damage.
The earthquake that struck at 9:30 am (local time) originated at a depth of 14 kilometres with its epicentre located 11 kms northeast of Burhan, Attock, according to the National Seismic Monitoring Centre, Islamabad.
Tremors were felt in parts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa as well as in Islamabad and Rawalpindi.
The Saturday morning quake came less than 24 hours after a 5.9 magnitude temblor struck parts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Punjab provinces, with tremors felt in several cities, including Peshawar and Islamabad, on Friday.
The epicentre of that quake at 6:09 pm (local time) was in Afghanistan's Hindu Kush region at a depth of 101 kilometres.
Earthquakes are common in northern Pakistan due to its location in the Himalayas where the Indian and the Eurasian tectonic plates meet.
Earlier, a 5.6-magnitude earthquake hit Balochistan province on February 13 but no loss to life or property was reported there too. Its epicentre was 86 kms northeast of Khuzdar town of the province.
The quake was preceded on the same day by another tremor of magnitude 3.8 that struck 75 kms southeast of Khuzdar at a depth of 33 kms.
The worst quake the country suffered was in 2005, which killed about 74,000 people.
