when the operation in Rafah will start –

Israel is preparing for the Rafah ground operation, which will take place following Eid al-Fitr, the three-day holiday that follows Ramadan and ends around mid-April, or at the latest in early May, according to Egyptian sources, who apparently learned the news from IDF officials, quoted by the pro-Hezbollah newspaper Al-Akhbar. The ground operation inside the last bastion of Hamas in the Gaza Strip would last four to eight weeks, insiders say, and would be accompanied by the evacuation of the civilian refugee population in Rafah, which amounts to around 1.5 million people, towards the center of the Strip along specific routes and at specific times, announced in advance to civilians in each area of ​​Rafah.

The mass evacuation would be monitored from the ground and in the air to ensure that no Hamas fighters or Israeli hostages are hidden among Gaza civilians, Egyptian officials say. For its part, Cairo expresses deep concern regarding an IDF operation in the Rafah area, underlining that it might lead to further escalation not only in Gaza, but in the entire region, according to Al-Akhbar’s analysis. Israel promised to give Egyptians advance warning of an IDF incursion into the Philadelphia Corridor, which runs west of Rafah along the Gaza-Egypt border. Despite the pressure from the USA and the rest of the international community, the path seems to be clear, with heavy clashes in Rafah.