“While dozens of people were loaded into ambulances, crowds at the border facility pushed through an open gate. Parents gripped tightly to toddlers with one hand and tried to wheel their suitcases with the other. Then they sat in plastic chairs, waiting and waiting after weeks of false dawns.” At long last, the first civilians leave Gaza through Rafah border crossing into Egypt.

+ Antony Blinken’s testimony to Congress on just one of many atrocities that took place on October 7: “The father’s eye gouged out, the mother’s breast cut off, the girl’s foot amputated, the boy’s fingers cut off before they were executed, and then their executioners sat down and had a meal. That is what this society is dealing with.” (You can protest about the way Israel is responding and mourn the innocent lives lost. But you can’t be pro-Hamas. You can’t.)

+ Meanwhile, a “top Hamas official said the militant group is prepared to repeat October’s terrorist attack on Israel time and again until the country no longer exists.”

+ Iran’s prior, existing, and future role in all this has received less coverage than one would imagine. For years, Iran’s leaders have been calling for Israel’s destruction. One of their proxies has made its move and others are getting involved. So now what? NYT (Gift Article): After Years of Vowing to Destroy Israel, Iran Faces a Dilemma. “Still, Iran does not want regional war, which carries risks for the nation and its religious rulers … The military capabilities of its allies could be significantly diminished by a protracted battle with Israel, and even more so if the U.S. military enters the fray.”

+ NYT (Gift Article): American Commandos Are in Israel Helping to Locate Hostages, Pentagon Says.

+ “Since the Israeli military issued the first of several instructions for civilians to evacuate north Gaza, hundreds of thousands of Gazans have moved to the south of the strip. But the south has continued to come under Israeli bombardment.” BBC verifies attacks in areas of ‘safety.’

+ Some US citizens have gotten out of Gaza and into Egypt, Israel moves further into Gaza. Here’s the latest from CNN and BBC.