Netanyahu orders civilians to withdraw from Rafah, prepares offensive in the city
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Friday he has ordered the army to prepare a plan to evacuate civilians from Rafah, on the southern edge of the Gaza Strip, ahead of Israel’s planned offensive on the densely populated city.
Netanyahu made the announcement despite strong international criticism, including from the United States, of Israeli intentions to move ground forces into the city bordering Egypt.
Before the war, Rafah had a population of about 280,000 and, according to the United Nations, is now home to more than 1.4 million people, living with relatives, in shelters or in huge tent camps after fleeing the fighting elsewhere in Gaza. Are.
Israel claims Rafah is Hamas’s last stronghold in Gaza after more than four months of war.
“It is impossible to achieve the war goal of eliminating Hamas by leaving four Hamas battalions in Rafah,” Netanyahu’s office said. “On the contrary, it is clear that due to the intense activity in Rafah there is a need for civilians to evacuate the war zone.”
The office said it had ordered military and security officials to prepare a “joint plan” that includes both the mass evacuation of civilians and the destruction of Hamas forces in the city.
President Joe Biden said Thursday that Israel’s conduct in the war is “extreme”, the harshest criticism the United States has yet leveled at its ally. The State Department warned that an attack on Rafah under current circumstances “would be a disaster.”
The operation will be challenging at many levels. It is still unclear where civilians can go. The Israeli attack has caused widespread destruction, especially in northern Gaza, and left hundreds of thousands of people with no homes to return to.
Additionally, Egypt has warned that any Palestinians entering its territory would jeopardize its four-decade peace treaty with Israel. The border crossing between Gaza and Egypt, which is virtually closed, serves as the main entry point for humanitarian aid.
Israel has started air strikes on Rafah. Two residential buildings were hit in airstrikes overnight and on Friday, while two other sites in central Gaza were bombed, including damage to a daycare center that had been converted into a shelter for displaced Palestinians.
Twenty-two people died, according to AP journalists who saw bodies arriving at hospitals.
Israel declared war after thousands of Hamas militants attacked south of its territory on October 7, killing 1,200 and taking 250 others hostage. According to Palestinian officials, Israeli air and ground attacks killed approximately 28,000 Palestinians, the majority of whom were women and minors. ,
About 80% of Gaza’s 2.3 million people have been displaced and the region is plunged into a humanitarian crisis with shortages of food and medical services.
Netanyahu rejected international criticism over civilian deaths, saying Hamas was responsible for endangering civilians by operating and hiding in populated areas. But this criticism has increased in recent days as Israel has vowed to crack down on the Rafah raid.
increasing friction
The comments by senior US officials on Rafah have signaled growing friction with Netanyahu following US Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s visit to the region.
Blinken, who has been working with Egypt and Qatar to broker a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, left the region on Thursday without a deal, although he said he believed an agreement would be reached. Access is still possible which will involve longer pauses. Fighting in exchange for the release of many of the more than 100 hostages held by Hamas.
State Department spokesman Vedant Patel said Thursday that “taking such aggressive action without a plan and without thoughtful consideration in a region that is home to one million people would be a disaster.”
White House national security spokesman John Kirby said the Israeli ground attack in Rafah was “not something we would support.”
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