Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu asked the army to deliver a “combined plan” for the “evacuation” of civilians from Rafah and the “destruction” of the Islamist movement Hamas in that city in the southern Gaza Strip.
(In context: Israel bombs Rafah and Biden criticizes an 'excessive' operation)
“It is impossible to achieve the goal of war without eliminating Hamas and leaving four Hamas battalions in Rafah” and for that it is also necessary for “civilians to evacuate the combat zones,” Netanyahu's office said in a statement.
About 1.3 million Palestinians are crowded into Rafah, on the border with Egypt. The figure corresponds to more than half of the population of the Gaza Strip, so It is feared that a military offensive will cause a bloodbath.
In that context, Netanyahu “ordered Israeli forces and security officials” to deliver a “combined plan (…) to evacuate the population and destroy Hamas battalions,” the statement added.
Palestinians flee the bombings.
The United States, Israel's main ally, warned Thursday that a military operation “without planning and without reflection” in Rafah could cause a humanitarian “disaster.”
At the start of the war, four months ago, Israeli forces concentrated their operations in Gaza City, in the north of the Strip, and then moved towards Khan Yunis, further south.
(Also read: Netanyahu urges military pressure for 'total victory' in Gaza and not succumbing to Hamas)
But on Wednesday, Netanyahu ordered an offensive to be prepared in Rafah, populated mostly by displaced people who fled from other areas of the Strip due to Israeli operations against the Islamist movement Hamas, which has ruled Gaza since 2007.
The war broke out on October 7 when Islamist militants They killed more than 1,160 people, mostly civilians, and kidnapped about 250 in an attack in southern Israel, according to an AFP report based on official Israeli data.
In Israeli bombings and retaliatory operations in Gaza, 27,940 people died, mostly women, children and adolescents, according to Hamas, an organization classified as terrorist by the European Union and the United States.
(Continue reading: The head of American diplomacy pressures Israel in favor of a truce in Gaza)
AFP
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