Thousands of Palestinians fled to southern Gaza in search of refuge on Friday after Israel gave them 24-hour ultimatum to leave, as it amassed tanks for an expected ground invasion in response to a devastating attack by the militant group Hamas.

Nearly 1,800 Gazans — including over 580 children — have been killed in waves of missile strikes on the densely populated enclave, the health ministry said.

Hamas took an estimated 150 Israeli, foreign and dual-national hostages back to Gaza during its initial attack, according to Israel.

Meanwhile, countries urged Israel to hold off on plans for an all-out assault on northern Gaza.

The United Nations said evacuating everyone was impossible with power supplies cut and food and water in the Palestinian enclave running short after a week of retaliatory air strikes and a full Israeli blockade.

Top US officials headed for urgent talks in Israel and beyond amid fears the conflict could spread, with Iran warning of a response from its allies, which include Hamas and Hezbollah in Lebanon.

The United States must rein in Israel to avert a regional spillover of the war with Hamas, Iran’s top diplomat said Friday in Beirut, adding Tehran was seeking to safeguard Lebanon’s security.

“If the Americans want to prevent the war in the region from developing, they must control Israel,” Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian said, adding, “one of the goals of our trip is to stress Lebanon’s security”.

Here are the latest developments on the issue

• Reuters videographer, Issam Abdallah, has been killed, the press team of the news agency confirmed. Issam was part of a Reuters crew in Southern Lebanon who was providing a live signal. Reuters journalists Thaer Al-Sudani and Maher Nazeh also sustained injuries and are seeking medical care. Reports claimed that they were hit in attacks carried out by Israel.

• In Gaza, UN officials said the Israeli military, whose troops are massing at the border, had told them the evacuation should be carried out “within the next 24 hours”.

• Hamas vowed to fight until the last drop of blood and told residents to stay put after Israel said they should move to the south within 24 hours.

• The UN humanitarian office (OCHA) said more than 400,000 people had fled their homes in Gaza and 23 aid workers had been killed. “Mass displacement continues,” it said.

• Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday warned Israeli forces’ expected ground offensive would bring unacceptable levels of civilian casualties, and that his country was ready to help with mediation efforts.

• Hamas on Friday rejected an Israeli order for 1.1 million residents to evacuate northern Gaza ahead of an expected ground incursion into the overcrowded Palestinian territory.

• Hezbollah Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah met on Friday with Iranian Foreign Minister Hussein Amir-Abdollahian in Beirut. The two discussed recent developments in the region, “the ongoing Israeli aggression in Gaza, and the events in Al-Aqsa and the West Bank.” They held a situation assessment regarding international and regional affairs, possible outcomes, and consultations about dangerous developments.

• Thousands of Iraqis poured onto the streets of Baghdad Friday in support of Palestinians amid Israeli air strikes on Gaza in reprisal for a deadly Hamas attack, state television said.

• At least 13 Israeli and foreign hostages held in the northern Gaza Strip have been killed in Israeli air strikes in the past 24 hours, Hamas said on Friday.

• “Thirteen prisoners… including foreigners” were killed in five locations targeted by Israeli fighter jets, the Ezzedine al-Qassam Brigades said in a statement.

• The United Nations said an order by Israel to flee within 24 hours risked a “calamitous situation.

• A Security Council meeting on the conflict has been called for Friday.

• More reaction to the UN statement – Reuters is now reporting that the Israeli envoy to the UN has said that the international body’s response to its call for everyone north of Wadi Gaza to move south in the next 24 hours is “shameful”

• HRW advocate Omar Shakir, Israel and Palestine director at Human Rights Watch, has warned that Israel’s call for 1.1 million Palestinian to leave northern Gaza would constitute mass displacement not seen in decades.

• Arriving in Beirut, Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian says the war may open on “other fronts” if the bombing of Gaza continues.

• US Secretary of State Antony Blinken travels to Jordan on the second day of a regional mission.

• Hamas accuses Israel of carrying out“genocide“ in Gaza.

• At least 1,537 Palestinians – including 500 children and 276 women – have been killed and 6,612 wounded in Israeli airstrikes on Gaza. The number of people killed in Israel has reached 1,300.