Israeli airstrikes have again claimed many lives. On the night of Monday, it was Rafah right on the border with Egypt that was the target.
At least 67 people were killed in fierce Israeli attacks against Rafah in the southernmost part of the Gaza Strip on the night of Monday. Photo: AP / NTB
Sea view
Published: 12.02.2024 13:18 | Updated: 12/02/2024 14:01
Israeli soldiers rescued two hostages from Rafah in the south of the Gaza Strip on the night of Monday. According to an announcement from the Israeli army, 70-year-old Louis Norberto Har and 60-year-old Fernando Marman were rescued in an operation in which the security service Shin Bet and Israeli police also participated.
The two were abducted by Hamas from Kibbutz Nir Yitzhak on October 7 and, according to the announcement, are in good shape. They were found in an apartment in Rafah.
Two 21-year-old Israeli special forces were killed in the Gaza Strip on Sunday, but the circumstances are not clear.
At least 226 Israeli soldiers have been killed in Gaza since October, some in combat, some in accidents and some after being shot by fellow soldiers.
332 soldiers and 52 police officers and members of the Israeli security services were also killed in the October 7 Hamas attack.
Violent attacks
Israel carried out fierce airstrikes against several targets in Rafah on the night of Monday, and at least 14 residential buildings and several mosques were bombed, according to the Palestinian Red Crescent.
Palestinian health authorities confirmed in the morning hours that at least 67 people were killed in the night’s attack, and the hospitals in Rafah have also received a large number of wounded.
Throughout the morning, searches continued for missing persons in the ruins of bombed buildings, and it is feared that the number of dead will rise.
Palestinians sit in the ruins of one of the buildings that was bombed in Rafah on Monday night. Photo: AP / NTB
Sea view
Fear and panic
According to a journalist from AP who is in Rafah, among other things the area around the Kuwaiti hospital in Rafah was hit. Several of the injured have been taken to hospital.
The heavy bombardment caused panic among many who were sleeping when the attacks started. This is according to people in the area whom Reuters has spoken to via messaging services. Several said they feared Israel had begun a ground invasion of Rafah.
The Israeli army confirmed in the morning hours that they had attacked “terrorist targets in the Shaboura area”.
Residents there tell Reuters that planes, tanks and warships were used in the attack. Before previous Israeli attacks on cities in the Gaza Strip, Israel has ordered civilians to evacuate, without presenting any evacuation plans.
60-year-old Fernando Simon Marman was freed by Israeli forces after just over four months in captivity in Gaza on the night of Monday.
1 of 2 Photo: Hostages and Missing Families Forum / AP / NTB
Could be catastrophic
An estimated 1.5 million people are in the small city in the very south of the Gaza Strip, on the border with Egypt. Over 1.2 million of them have been driven to flee from Israeli attacks further north. The city is the last relatively safe place in the Gaza Strip, which has been left in ruins by Israel’s military offensive.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has announced a ground invasion of Rafah, claiming it is necessary to achieve the Israeli goal of wiping out Hamas.
In a conversation on Sunday, US President Joe Biden told Netanyahu that such an invasion cannot happen without a plan to protect civilians. Earlier this week, Biden described the Israeli warfare in the Gaza Strip as “excessive”.
Warns
Norway, the EU and a number of aid organizations have warned of catastrophic consequences in the event of an Israeli invasion of Rafah.
Egypt has also warned and made it clear that the country will not accept Israel expelling hundreds of thousands of Palestinians across the border. This could have consequences for the peace agreement that was concluded in 1978, it says.
The Hamas-run al-Aqsa TV channel quoted a Hamas leader as saying on Sunday that any ground offensive in Rafah would destroy the prisoner exchange negotiations.
WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus fears the consequences of an Israeli ground invasion in Rafah, where over 1 million internally displaced people have sought refuge.
– We have so far delivered 447 tonnes of medical supplies to Gaza, but this is a drop in the ocean. The needs are increasing every single day, says the WHO chief.
According to the UN, Israel is holding back over 1,000 containers of food and other emergency aid in the Israeli port city of Ashdod just north of the Gaza Strip.
Ask Israel to reconsider
Israel should “stop and think seriously” before proceeding in Rafah, says British Foreign Minister David Cameron.
Cameron was asked if Israel is violating international law in its warfare on the Gaza Strip.
– We think it is impossible to see how a war can be fought among these peoples. There is nowhere they can go, he said.
– We are very concerned about the situation and we want Israel to stop and think very seriously about the matter before they proceed. Above all, we want an immediate pause in the fighting, and we want that pause to lead to a ceasefire, continued the British foreign minister.
Israel on Monday called on UN aid organizations to help evacuate civilians from the war zones.
– We encourage the UN organizations to cooperate. Don’t say it can’t be done. Work with us to find a way, said government spokesman Eylon Levy.