2024-05-05 19:07:12
Politico newspaper said on Friday that Israel had informed the administration of US President Joe Biden and relief organizations of its plan to begin transferring residents from Rafah. The newspaper added that Israel is planning to transfer residents from Rafah to Al-Mawasi on the southwestern coast of Gaza.
For its part, the White House said that the US administration had not seen a comprehensive plan for an Israeli operation in Rafah. The White House added: “We want to continue talks with Israel regarding Rafah before any military action.”
Israel gave Hamas a week to agree to the ceasefire agreement, otherwise it will begin a military operation in Rafah, according to what sources previously reported to the Wall Street Journal.
The newspaper said that Hamas is seeking a long-term truce and guarantees from the United States that Israel will respect the ceasefire. Hamas officials expressed concerns that the latest proposal remains too vague and gives Israel room to resume fighting.
The Wall Street Journal added that Egypt invited senior Hamas officials to return to Cairo in the coming days to continue negotiations.
Reuters reported that US Intelligence Director William Burns arrived in Cairo to attend meetings on Gaza, while Hamas confirmed that it would send its negotiating delegation to Cairo tomorrow, Saturday, where movement leader Hossam Badran announced that internal consultations would be held before returning the negotiating delegation to Egypt.
Yedioth Ahronoth newspaper reported on Tuesday that the Israeli army had completed its preparations for the expected operation in the city of Rafah, south of the Gaza Strip.
The source explained that the Chief of Staff approved the plans for the operation in the last stronghold of Hamas in the Gaza Strip, while the Israeli army estimates that within the next 48 to 72 hours “the decision will be made that will constitute the end of the campaign in the Gaza Strip.”
He added that the coming hours will be decisive: either a hostage deal with Hamas, or the Israeli army entering Rafah.
On Friday, international officials warned of the consequences of Israeli forces carrying out their threat to invade Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip. One of them said that this operation could be a “massacre,” while another described the emergency plan for the operation as “just a bandage.”
A spokesman for the United Nations Office for Humanitarian Affairs announced yesterday that any Israeli incursion into the city of Rafah, south of Gaza, would expose the lives of hundreds of thousands of residents to enormous danger. Spokesman Jens Laerke added, in a press conference in Geneva, that the Israeli army’s entry into the city “could be tantamount to a massacre of civilians, and a massive blow to the humanitarian relief operation in the entire sector.” Because it is mainly managed from Rafah.”
Rick Pepperkorn of the World Health Organization also explained at the same conference that a contingency plan had been prepared, including a new field hospital, in the event that Israel carried out a ground invasion of the city, “although this will not be sufficient to prevent a large number of deaths.”
Israel vowed to carry out an operation against the Hamas movement in Rafah, in the southern Gaza Strip, which houses about a million displaced people who fled the fighting in the north and were crowded into temporary shelters and camps since October.
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2024-05-05 19:07:12