© REUTERS
Rafah, February 9, 2024
Israeli forces have stepped up airstrikes on Rafah ahead of an announced ground attack on Hamas in the southern Gaza border town, where residents displaced by four months of Israeli bombardment have sought shelter. The US and UN have warned Israel that a military offensive in Rafah might be catastrophic. Several human rights groups, including Doctors Without Borders, condemned the operation.
Early on Saturday, Israeli airstrikes hit the densely populated Rafah, and some were also targeted at sites on the outskirts of Damascus, including a residential building west of the Syrian capital, a military monitor was quoted by France 24 as saying. State media reported that Syrian air defenses responded to an Israeli “air attack”.
Aid agencies have warned that a military offensive in such a densely populated area might end up killing large numbers of innocent people. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ordered the Israel Defense Forces and the security establishment to present to the cabinet a combined plan to evacuate the population and destroy the battalions.
The United Nations said Palestinian civilians in Rafah should be protected but there should be no forced mass displacement, which it says is once morest international law. Filipe Lazzarini, who heads the UN agency for Palestine refugees UNRWA, highlighted the growing anxiety and growing panic “because basically people have no idea where to go”.
The prime minister’s office announced that four Hamas battalions were in Rafah and Israel might not achieve its goal of eliminating the Islamist fighters while they remained there. Civilians should be evacuated from the war zone, he said.
This week, Hamas proposed a 4-1/2-month ceasefire during which the remaining hostages would be released, Israel would withdraw its troops and an agreement would be reached. Netanyahu rejected the offer and said Hamas’ terms, set out in response to a proposal drawn up by US and Israeli spy chiefs with Qatar and Egypt, were a “delusion” and vowed to continue the fight.
US President Joe Biden said on Thursday that Israel’s response to the October 7 attacks by Hamas militants was “excessive” and that Washington would not support any military operation mounted in Rafah without due care for civilians.
Nehanyahu’s spokesman, Tal Heinrich, told Fox News that “if Israel’s hands are tied by the international community or if we take the pressure for Hamas’ actions,” it would be “an open invitation for more terrorism worldwide.”
© REUTERS
Palestinians wait to receive food prepared by a charity kitchen in Rafah. January 16, 2024
According to the Gaza Ministry of Health, nearly 28,000 Palestinians have been killed in the conflict, 107 of them in the previous 24 hours; the wounded are more than 67,000. Roughly one in 10 Gazans under the age of five are already acutely malnourished, the latest UN figures from physical emaciation measurements showed. This is regarding 12 times more than the figures from before Israel’s war once morest Hamas.
Israel insists it is taking steps to avoid civilian casualties and accuses Hamas fighters of hiding among civilians, including in schools, shelters and hospitals – claims Hamas denies.
The situation of the last days in brief:
- About 30 rockets were fired at northern Israel from Lebanon late Thursday into the early hours of Friday following an Israeli drone strike seriously wounded a commander of the Iran-backed Hezbollah militant group in southern Lebanon, Israel’s military said.
- Israeli forces attacked al-Amal hospital in southern Gaza.
- Moody’s downgrades Israel’s credit rating, citing war casualties.
- Biden sharpened criticism of Israel’s military campaign in Gaza.
- Israeli leaders have been silent on Biden’s criticism, while Egypt has offered praise.
- US intelligence officials have informed Congress that Israel is nowhere near eliminating Hamas.
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