ASSOCIATED PRESS / MARCH 12
Palestinians queue up to enjoy a single meal in Rafah, Gaza Strip.
RELATED PRESS
Palestinians walk near a pier that could be used to deliver humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip in Khan Younis.
TEL AVIV, Israel >> The Israeli military on Wednesday announced plans to send a significant portion of the 1. 4 million displaced Palestinians living in Rafah, the southernmost city in the Gaza Strip, to “humanitarian islands” in the center of the territory, ahead of its planned offensive in the area.
The fate of the other Rafah residents is the main fear of Israel’s allies (including the United States) and aid groups, who fear that an offensive in the densely populated area where so many other displaced people live could simply be a catastrophe. important access point for desperately needed help.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said an offensive in Rafah was aimed at achieving Israel’s stated purpose of destroying Hamas after the Oct. 7 militant attack that killed some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and took about 250 hostage and brought to Gaza. Gaza’s flood has killed more than 31,000 people, according to Gaza health officials, left much of the enclave in ruins and displaced about 80% of Gaza’s 2. 3 million residents.
Israel’s top army spokesman, Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari, said the movement of other people in Rafah into designated areas, which he said would be carried out in coordination with foreign actors, was a key component of the army’s arrangements for its planned invasion of Rafah, where Israel says Hamas maintains 4 battalions that it needs to destroy.
Rafah has grown in recent months as Palestinians in Gaza have fled fighting in almost every corner of the territory. The city is covered with tents.
“We want to make sure that 1. 4 million people, or at least a significant portion of those 1. 4 million, are displaced. Where? To the humanitarian islands that we will create in combination with the foreign community,” Hagari told reporters at a news conference. Press conference.
Hagari said the islands would provide transitional housing, food, water and other essential items to the evacuated Palestinians. He did not say when the evacuation of Rafah would take place, nor when the Rafah offensive would begin, saying Israel was looking for the right time to be operational. timely and coordinated with neighboring Egypt, which said it did not need an influx of displaced Palestinians across its territory.
At the start of the war, Israel directed evacuees to an area of undeveloped land along Gaza’s Mediterranean coast, which it designated as an area. But aid teams said there were no genuine plans to accommodate large numbers of the evacuees. He also took aim at the area.
More than 31,270 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza and as many as 2. 3 million citizens have been forced to flee their homes, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry. The ministry differentiates between civilians and combatants in its count, but says women and youth make up twice as many. thirds of the dead.
Israel blames Hamas for civilian casualties because militants are fighting in dense residential areas. The army said it had killed 13,000 Hamas fighters and offered evidence.
An Israeli strike on Wednesday hit a food distribution site in southern Gaza run by UNRWA, the U. N. firm that works with Palestinian refugees, killing one of the firm’s members and wounding 22 others.
The death brings to 165 the number of people killed in the last five months of fighting, according to UNRWA.
Gaza’s health government said a total of five other people were killed in the attack on the courtyard of an UNRWA warehouse.
Hagari said the army read the report.
The confrontation has triggered a humanitarian disaster that has led to an increase in hunger. The delivery of aid has been hampered by Israeli restrictions, ongoing hostilities and the breakdown of order in Gaza, according to the United Nations. Israel denies restricting access to aid.
The crisis has been acute in northern Gaza, Israel’s initial target in the early weeks of the war.
Hagari said on Wednesday that Israel is making plans to “flood the area” with aid, with plans to intensify access for goods from several areas of northern Gaza, after a dozen trucks delivering aid entered from the north on Tuesday as part of a pilot program. program. He did not specify how many more trucks were expected to enter and how often.
Hagari also said the U. S. military was expected to be in Israel this week to further coordinate a U. S. floating jetty task to be built off the coast of Gaza, which he said would be “important” for northern Gaza.
The U. S. and other countries have also dumped food into northern Gaza in recent weeks to ease the crisis. Aid teams have said airdrops and sea shipments are far less effective than trucking food.
Have comments? Learn more here.
Click here for our full information on the coronavirus outbreak. Submit your advice on coronavirus news.
Back to top