The State Department said it was halting all visas for Palestinians from Gaza, including medical visas for children.

Israel says it is preparing to move Palestinians from combat zones to southern Gaza as plans move ahead for a military offensive in some of the territory’s most populated areas.

Israel is in discussions with South Sudan about the possibility of resettling Palestinians from the Gaza Strip to the war-torn East African country, part of a wider effort by Israel to facilitate mass emigration from the territory left in ruins by its 22-month offensive against Hamas.

Libya, South Sudan and Syria are among the countries Israel has spoken to in its effort to move hundreds of thousands from the enclave.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says Israel will “allow” Palestinians to leave during an upcoming military offensive in some of the territory’s most populated areas.

The Italian Air Force flew the evacuees to Rome, Milan and Pisa in three C-130 cargo aeroplanes from the southern city of Eilat in Israel.View on euronews

A Toronto immigration and refugee lawyer has filed a petition to the federal court to force the Canadian government to speed up the resettlement process. Two Palestinian-Canadian families worry their loved ones could die while waiting.

The plan would envisage people moving from an enclave shattered by almost two years of war with Israel to a nation in the heart of Africa riven by political and ethnically-driven violence.

In leaked audio recordings, the former head of Israeli military intelligence can be heard saying that the deaths of tens of thousands of Palestinians in Gaza is “necessary and required for future generations.