Evacuations and Evacuees

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    As Israel Steps Up Attacks, 300,000 Gazans Are on the Move

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    Many say there is nowhere to go, and even the “humanitarian zone” recommended by Israel is neither safe nor equipped to handle all of them, the U.N. says.Around 300,000 Palestinians in southern and northern Gaza are being forced to flee once again, the United Nations says, as Israel issued new and expanded evacuation orders on Saturday. But many are unsure where to find secure shelter in a place devastated by war.The expanded evacuation orders apply to the city of Rafah at Gaza’s southernmost tip, where more than a million Gazans have gathered after fleeing Israeli bombardment elsewhere over the past seven months. They have deepened fears that the Israeli military is set to proceed with an invasion of Rafah, which Israeli leaders have long promised, a prospect that international aid groups and many countries have condemned.Some 150,000 people have already fled Rafah over the past six days, according to UNRWA, the United Nations agency that aids Palestinians.“It’s such a difficult situation — the number of people displaced is very high, and none of them know where to go, but they leave and try to get as far away as possible,” said Mohammad al-Masri, a 31-year-old accountant who is sheltering with his family in a tent in Rafah. “Fear, confusion, oppression, anxiety is eating away at people.”Charles Michel, president of the European Council, criticized the expanded evacuation order on Saturday on social media, saying, “Evacuation orders for civilians trapped in Rafah to unsafe zones are unacceptable.”Israel seized control of the Gaza side of the Rafah border crossing with Egypt on Monday in what it called a “limited operation,” and stepped-up bombardment and fighting have continued in and around the city since then.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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      4 Children From Gaza Arrive in U.S. for Medical Treatment

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      The children, who were injured or suffered malnutrition, were greeted at Kennedy Airport with toys and balloons. “These are their first memories here,” one supporter said.The four children had survived horrors in Gaza.But on Sunday morning, they reached the end of an arduous journey out of the conflict zone and into American hospitals to receive urgent medical care. They flew from Cairo to Kennedy Airport, where they were greeted with much fanfare by a crowd of about 50 people carrying plush toys, flowers and bobbing balloons.Among the children was Fadi Alzant, 6, a gaunt boy with pale skin and strawberry blond hair who appeared dazed as the crowd rushed around his wheelchair. An airport employee grew agitated and shouted at people to disperse and to put away their cameras.Fadi, who has cystic fibrosis and weighs about 25 pounds, is suffering from severe malnourishment caused by famine, according to the Palestine Children’s Relief Fund, which coordinated the children’s journeys with assistance from the World Health Organization.He will be treated at Cohen Children’s Medical Center in Queens. Paramedics lifted the tiny, wide-eyed child out of his wheelchair and onto a gurney that dwarfed him even further. Then, they carried him to an ambulance bound for the hospital.Supporters from various aid organizations waited to greet the children.Anna Watts for The New York Times“We love you!” said a woman in the crowd, who was dabbing her eyes.“Let’s not overwhelm them, guys,” someone else said. “Did they get water?”We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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      Taiwan Quakes: Aftershocks From Deadly Temblor Hit Island

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      No injuries or deaths were immediately reported, but two buildings partially collapsed in the tremors, which followed a powerful April 3 quake that killed 17 people.Taiwan was shaken by a series of earthquakes on Monday and early Tuesday, the strongest with a magnitude of 6.3, partially toppling two buildings and keeping frightened residents up overnight. The tremors were aftershocks from the magnitude 7.4 quake that killed 17 people three weeks ago, the authorities said.The tremors began just after 5 p.m. on Monday local time with a 5.5 magnitude quake in Hualien County on Taiwan’s east coast, according to Wu Chien-fu, the director of the Taiwanese Central Weather Administration’s Seismological Center. It was followed by a series of smaller tremors some minutes later in the same area.Two buildings in the city of Hualien partially collapsed, some residents were evacuated and schools and offices in Hualien County were ordered to close on Tuesday because of the threat of continuing tremors, according to local news outlets. No injuries or deaths had been reported by Tuesday morning.Mr. Wu said at a news conference on Monday night that the quakes were aftershocks from the deadly April 3 quake, which was the strongest to hit Taiwan in 25 years. The epicenter of that earthquake was also in the Hualien County area.Maps: Earthquakes Shake Eastern TaiwanView the location of each quake’s epicenter and shake area.By Tuesday morning, more than 180 shocks had been recorded in the previous 24 hours, according to the Central Weather Administration. The strongest were at 2:26 a.m., at magnitude 6, off Taiwan’s eastern coast, and 2:32 a.m., at magnitude 6.3, about 10 miles from Hualien County. The latest big tremor came at about 8 a.m. on Tuesday, according to the Central Weather Administration.Chen Mei-hui, 58, a retired saleswoman who lives in Hualien, said the tremors had put her in a “very torturous mood.”“I have been unable to sleep well since the earthquake this month,” she said on Tuesday morning. “We can only pray that our house is strong enough to get us through this difficult time.”Chris Buckley More

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      Heavy Rains and a Water Spout Hit Southern China

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      Bad weather in Guangdong Province forced evacuations as forecasters warned of more rain and potential flooding.Torrential rain battered Southern China on Sunday, causing flooding and forcing tens of thousands of evacuations in the country’s most populous province, as a waterspout appeared briefly in Hong Kong and forecasters warned of potentially severe flooding.Rain has been falling in Guangdong, which has a population of about 127 million people, since last week. It intensified over the weekend, hammering the north of the province and the Pearl River Delta in the south, which includes Guangdong’s capital, Guangzhou, as well as the cities of Hong Kong and Macau.The city of Yingde, in Guangdong’s north, received nearly a foot of rain from Friday to Sunday, the state owned China Daily newspaper reported on Sunday. Nearly 20,000 people were evacuated and nine rivers were at risk of overflowing, it said.In Guangzhou, the Longxue neighborhood received nearly five inches of rain over four hours on Sunday morning, the highest amount in the province. The Beijiang River, a tributary of the Pearl River, flooded on Saturday night, China’s Ministry of Water Resources said on Sunday. As the downpour continued, the river faced a risk of a “exceptionally large” flooding through Monday, the ministry said.And in Hong Kong, a Chinese territory south of Guangdong, a waterspout was sighted over water by the local meteorological agency on Sunday morning. Waterspouts are whirling columns of air and water mist that form when cold air moves over warmer water, drawing up moisture.There were no reports of the waterspout causing damage, and a rainstorm warning for the city was canceled at 2 p.m. But forecasters warned of violent winds and possible flooding.Heavy rain was also affecting parts of the neighboring Chinese provinces of Guangxi, Jiangxi and Fujian on Sunday.The heaviest rain was forecast to shift from the north to the east of Guangdong on Monday, and some areas could receive up to 10 inches of rain over 24 hours, according to the China Weather Network, an arm of the country’s meteorological authority. The rainfall was expected to begin easing on Tuesday.Thunderstorms and sometimes heavy showers were also forecast for Hong Kong on Monday. More

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      At Least 2 Are Stabbed on a Party Boat in Brooklyn

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      Three people were hospitalized, including a man who was struck in the head with a bottle, and more than 1,000 passengers were evacuated, the authorities said.Two men were stabbed and another was hit in the head with a bottle on a crowded party boat in Brooklyn on Saturday evening, the authorities said.The men were hospitalized with injuries that did not appear to be life-threatening, police and fire officials said.The police said the attacks forced the evacuation of more than 1,000 passengers from the boat, a cruise ship called the Cornucopia Majesty, which was docked at Pier 4 at the Brooklyn Army Terminal.A 32-year-old man was stabbed in the torso, a 40-year-old man was stabbed several times in the chest and abdomen, and a 28-year-old man was hit in the head with a bottle, the police said. All three men were taken to NYU Langone Hospital-Brooklyn.The stabbings happened just after 5 p.m., the police said. No arrests had been made as of Saturday night, and it was unclear how many attackers had been involved.The police said they believed that a dispute had escalated into a physical altercation, but that the events leading up to the stabbings were still under investigation.Just before 8 p.m., the group that organized the party, BYFAR Entertainment, posted a statement to social media.“Unfortunately, a crime scene developed by the pier, which has caused the postponement of the night event,” the company said. “We will have updates on a later date so just hold on tight with us while we sort everything out. BYFAR Entertainment has always been a beacon of safe events in New York City and this rare occurrence has never been the norm with us.”In the hours before the fight, the Cornucopia Majesty had hosted a party.Passengers said in interviews that they had enjoyed dancing, eating and drinking rum aboard the ship, but by early evening, they were standing confused on the pier, surrounded by police cruisers and ambulances.Glendon Thomas, 29, a resident of New Jersey, said he and several friends realized a fight had broken out on the ship only after they disembarked.“I saw a guy laying on his friend,” he said, adding that the friend appeared to have a wound on his chest.Kevaun Whitely, who lives in Brooklyn, said the fight had broken out as a large crowd of rowdy partygoers — many of whom had been drinking alcohol — attempted to disembark through the same door.“It was like a stampede,” Mr. Whitely, 27, said. The police kept Mr. Whitely and several other people on board the ship for hours as they checked identification, he said.“I’m glad we got out safe,” he said, adding, “I hope nobody passed away from all this craziness.” More

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      Gazans Find Khan Younis ‘Unrecognizable’ After Israeli Withdrawal

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      The withdrawal of Israeli ground troops from southern Gaza over the weekend allowed some Palestinians to return to the city of Khan Younis and check on their homes. But in the aftermath of a fierce, monthslong battle and Israeli bombings, some found only destruction.“When I saw the scene I couldn’t handle it,” said Dr. Ahmad al-Farra, who went back on Sunday to find his family’s three-story villa reduced to a pile of rubble, surrounded by the few trees that were left standing in what was once a lush garden.“I completely collapsed and nearly fainted,” he said in a phone call on Monday, adding that his wife and two teenage daughters burst into tears when they saw what was left of their home.“I worked for 20 years to build this house,” said Dr. al-Farra, 54, who ran the pediatric ward at Nasser Hospital before the family fled south to Rafah in January. “You build a home corner by corner, stone by stone.”“And in the end,” he added, “with a press of a button, it is reduced to rubble.”The rest of Khan Younis was “unrecognizable,” Dr. al-Farra said. Most buildings and homes were completely demolished, partially destroyed or burned, and the streets had been bulldozed. “Khan Younis was annihilated like it’s World War II or even worse,” he said.Dr. al-Farra said “many, many people” had returned to Khan Younis on Sunday. He soon realized that staying at his home was not a possibility. But like many other Gazans sheltering in Rafah, he said that he soon planned to move his family’s tent to somewhere in Khan Younis. He and others fear Israel’s pledge to send ground troops into Rafah in pursuit of Hamas’s leaders and fighters, an invasion that many believe will come after the end of the holy month of Ramadan this week.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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      Big Sur Urged to Evacuate as Another Storm Approaches

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      Officials are advising people to leave one of the nation’s most scenic coastal stretches before rain washes away more of Highway 1.California officials temporarily shut down part of Highway 1 on Wednesday and warned residents to evacuate one of the nation’s most scenic coastal stretches as an incoming bout of spring rain threatened to worsen a road collapse near Big Sur.The emergency orders, issued by the Monterey County Sheriff’s Office and the California Department of Transportation, came as the state and local authorities scrambled to rebound from a landslide last weekend in which a sizable portion of Highway 1 crumbled after a day of heavy rainfall.The so-called slip-out, which stranded more than a thousand motorists overnight along the famous state highway, was the product of winter storms that for months have saturated California. The collapse sent massive chunks of pavement tumbling into the Pacific Ocean north of Big Sur and narrowed nearly two miles of road to a single lane.For the last several days, state transportation officials have urged motorists to avoid the area and have gingerly shepherded local and emergency traffic around the missing section of highway. Jim Shivers, a spokesman for the state transportation agency, known as Caltrans, said the twice-daily convoys had accommodated an average of about 150 vehicles in each direction per day.But with rain expected to return on Thursday and Friday, Caltrans canceled the convoys through Friday.“They only expect about half an inch, but we don’t want to take any chances,” Mr. Shivers said. “It’s the end of a wet rainy season, so any additional moisture has the potential for additional landslide or mudslide activity.”We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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      Iceland Volcano Erupts in Plumes of Fire With Little Notice

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      The authorities said the eruption on Saturday night was the most powerful of a series that started in December.A volcano erupted with little notice in southern Iceland on Saturday night, the latest in a string of eruptions in the area, threatening local infrastructure and leading the authorities to declare a state of emergency.Lava fountains burst out of the ground, and a nearly two-mile-long fissure opened up on the Reykjanes Peninsula around 8:30 p.m., the Icelandic Meteorological Office said. The eruption occurred near the town of Grindavik, the Svartsengi Power Plant and the Blue Lagoon, one of Iceland’s most famous tourist attractions.The meteorological office said that it had received indications of a possible eruption only about 40 minutes before it happened. The office sent out its first warning moments before the eruption began.The Blue Lagoon and Grindavik were evacuated shortly after the eruption, according to RUV, the national broadcaster. Grindavik has a population of about 4,000, but few residents were in the town at the time. About 700 visitors were staying at the Blue Lagoon.Local news media reported that lava flowed over the main road leading to Grindavik around 1 a.m. and was heading toward the town and the power plant. Both have defensive barriers built around them to protect them from lava.On Sunday morning, Hjordis Gudmundsdottir, a spokeswoman for the Department of Civil Protection and Emergency Management, told reporters that the biggest risk was to two pipes that carried hot water from the geothermal Svartsengi Power Plant to homes on the peninsula.The eruption was most likely the biggest of the seven that have occurred across the Reykjanes Peninsula since 2021, including four since December, the civil protection agency said in a statement. Before that, the peninsula had laid dormant for 800 years.Meteorologists have expressed concerns that if the lava continues at the same rate, it could flow into the North Atlantic. Contact between lava and water can create small explosions and dangerous gases. More

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      Chile Wildfires Prompt Evacuations Along Coast

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      Several communities in the Valparaíso region were being evacuated on Wednesday night. Fires along the coast killed more than 100 people last month.The authorities were battling another round of dangerous wildfires along Chile’s Pacific coast on Wednesday night, several weeks after blazes there killed more than 100 people.Chile’s national disaster agency said on Wednesday night that several communities in the Valparaíso region were being evacuated as emergency crews battled the Cerro Cordillera fire. That part of the coast is dotted with towns that rise steeply from the ocean.Devastating wildfires swept through the region last month after erupting in Viña del Mar, a coastal resort city about 80 miles by road northwest of Santiago, the capital. They ravaged entire neighborhoods, trapped people fleeing in cars and destroyed thousands of homes. President Gabriel Boric called it Chile’s worst disaster since a cataclysmic 2010 earthquake killed more than 400 people and displaced about 1.5 million more.This is a developing story. More