2024-02-11 09:37:08
At least 44 Palestinians, including more than ten children, were killed in Rafah today, hours after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced that he had asked the army to draw up a plan to evacuate hundreds of thousands of people from the southern in the Gaza Strip city, before the upcoming ground offensive against it, the Associated Press reported.
Netanyahu did not reveal details or timelines, but the news caused mass panic. More than half of Gaza’s 2.3 million people have flocked to Rafah, many of whom were driven from their homes following previous Israeli evacuation orders that affected two-thirds of the enclave’s territory. It is not clear where they could go if they leave Rafah as well, AP notes.
Israel claims that Rafah, which borders Egypt, is the last remaining stronghold of the Palestinian group Hamas in the Gaza Strip.
Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry warned that any Israeli ground offensive in Rafah would have “catastrophic consequences” and said Israel aimed to eventually force Palestinians from their land.
Shoukry also said Egypt was working to bridge differences between the warring parties to achieve a permanent ceasefire and release the remaining hostages taken on October 7 in exchange for Palestinian prisoners being released from prisons. in Israel. “Negotiations are complicated,” he said.
News of the impending offensive came after a week of heightened public tensions between Netanyahu and the government of US President Joe Biden. US officials said an offensive against Rafah without a plan for civilians would cause disaster.
Israel bombards the city almost daily, even after telling civilians in recent weeks to seek refuge there from fighting in nearby Khan Younis to the north.
The Palestinian Islamist movement “Hamas”, meanwhile, warned that an Israeli offensive against Rafah could lead to “tens of thousands killed and wounded”, reported France Press.
“We are warning of catastrophe and mass killing that could lead to tens of thousands of martyrs and injured,” the statement said. Hamas emphasizes that “the American administration, the international community and the Israeli occupiers” will bear responsibility for these possible consequences.
Germany and Saudi Arabia have separately urged Israel not to launch an offensive against the town of Rafah because it would lead to a “foreseeable humanitarian catastrophe”, as German Foreign Minister Analena Berbock warned.
According to the latest figures from the Ministry of Health in the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip, the number of Palestinians killed in Israeli attacks since the start of the war on October 7 has exceeded 28,000, reported AFP.
This information has not been independently verified.
The number of those killed has increased in the last 24 hours by 117 to 28,064. The majority of them are women, youth and children.
Over 67,000 people were injured in Gaza.