Israel is preparing to forcibly evacuate civilians from Rafah before starting its dangerous offensive
Israel has been maintaining for several weeks that it would soon attack the city of Rafah in Gaza, where more than a million Palestinians who have fled from other places in the Strip have taken refuge. Several unnamed sources said this Wednesday that the army is continuing to prepare for this attack, which the international community opposes because it would pose a major threat to millions of displaced people who have no place to go and who Already in a lot of trouble. Precarious conditions, with little access to food, drinking water and health care.
According to the EFE agency, in Khan Younis, the largest city in southern Gaza, located a few kilometers from Rafah, a camp consisting of half a thousand white canvas tents has already been built. The camp is located in the west of the city, “near the cemetery”, as a Palestinian source told EFE, while another similar camp is still under construction. The Reuters news agency also confirmed that Israel had received thousands of tents to house the civilians it intended to evacuate from Rafah, before launching its promised offensive. Reuters, citing Israeli government sources, assures that the Defense Ministry has acquired 40,000 tents, each of which can accommodate 10 to 12 people.
A senior defense commander has told the agency anonymously that the army is ready for a ground attack on Rafah and that the operation will begin once it receives “government approval” from Benjamin Netanyahu, making it clear that the city But the attack will happen sooner or later. Executive representatives have presented the Americans with a plan to evacuate civilians and then storm the area, but Washington remains wary of the prospect of a large-scale military operation.
“Evacuating civilians will be a key part of Israel’s strategy,” a government spokesman was quoted as saying by Reuters. Government sources detailed to the agency that the so-called war cabinet plans to meet in the next two weeks to authorize the evacuation of civilians, which will last about a month and be the first step in the military operation in Rafah.
Meanwhile, the Israeli army has continued the bombardment of Rafah this Wednesday, where at least three people have died, local sources told EFE. A few days earlier, a bombardment of a house in East Rafah killed 16 Palestinians: 13 children and three women, according to local officials. Overall, more than 34,650 Palestinians in Gaza have lost their lives and thousands remain missing since the war began six and a half months ago, probably buried under the debris of their homes and other bombed buildings.
Bomb blast in southern Lebanon
This Wednesday, Israel Defense Forces also carried out intensive bombardment in the southern areas of Lebanon, on the other side of its border. According to a statement, they struck some “40 terrorist targets” of the Lebanese Shia group Hezbollah, including warehouses, weapons and other infrastructure. The attacks took place in the city of Aita ash Shab, where – according to Israel – this armed movement backed by Iran has dozens of infrastructures to attack Israeli soldiers and civilians in the north of the country.
On a visit to the IDF Northern Command in Safed City, Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Galant announced that “Half of Hezbollah’s commanders in southern Lebanon have been eliminated… and half of them went into hiding because of the operation and left southern Lebanon.” Gave.” Israeli army.
According to EFE, for its part, Hezbollah claims to have launched “dozens” of projectiles against the Israeli city of Shomira this Wednesday, the first attack of this type and magnitude against northern Israel in a period of a few hours. Firing between Hezbollah and Israeli forces has been daily since the beginning of the war in Gaza and has increased in intensity and scope in recent weeks. In this time, 18 people have been killed in Israel (10 soldiers and 8 civilians), while the victims on the other side of the border are at least 370: 260 Hezbollah militiamen, 46 members of other militias, one Lebanese soldier and about 60 civilians including ten. Minors and three journalists are involved.