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Following Israel’s announcement that it would evacuate Rafah, hundreds of thousands fled the city in the southern Gaza Strip on Saturday alone. But where should they go now?
Gaza/Tel Aviv – At the beginning of the week, Israel initiated the deployment of ground troops on the outskirts of the southern city of Rafah Gaza Strip. According to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), 150,000 Palestinians have now fled Rafah. According to the Israeli military, 300,000 people are said to have already left the city.
The Israeli army has now asked residents of Rafah to leave other areas of the city immediately, reported, among others German press agency (dpa). In a message that the military distributed in Arabic on the short message service X (formerly Twitter) and in leaflets, the armed forces listed urban areas affected by the evacuation. There are also two refugee camps among them.
It was said that the approximately 300,000 people affected should immediately go to the town of Al-Mawasi on the Mediterranean coast. Meanwhile, aid organizations doubt that large numbers of people can be adequately cared for there. The last intact hospital in Rafah is now also affected by the evacuation. As a result of Israel’s announcement, fears are growing not only in Rafah but also internationally that Israel could next escalation level in the war against the Islamist Hamas start soon.
Hundreds of thousands leave Rafah in motorcades that sometimes stretch for kilometers
On Saturday alone should More than a hundred thousand people fled Rafah following Israel’s warning. Kilometers of overloaded pick-up trucks, cars and horse-drawn carts lined the area, according to the British newspaper Guardian the streets leading out of the city. In addition, many people would have had to leave Rafah on foot and transport all their belongings out of the city under the scorching summer sun. Some were pushed or even carried in wheelchairs.
On the Short message service X (formerly Twitter), Louise Wateridge, a UNRWA employee, described on Saturday how visible the mass flight of people from Rafah already is: Families all over the city are currently packing their things. “The streets are significantly emptier,” she emphasized.
The city is “emptying now,” emphasized loudly Guardian also UN ambassador. It is currently expected that another large number of people could leave Rafah on Sunday as part of one of the most serious mass displacements in recent months. Where the masses of fleeing people will now go remains questionable. It is one of the most pressing questions that Israel’s actions in Rafah are currently raising.
After warning of the major Israeli offensive, Raffah is emptying – but where should its population go now?
Until recently, more than a million people crowded together in Rafah. They had previously fled here from other parts of Gaza as a result of the seven-month-long conflict between Israel and Hamas. Aid organizations now fear that a further intensified Israeli offensive in Rafah could lead to hundreds of thousands of Palestinian civilians being caught between the fronts.
There is also growing concern that the already precarious supply of food or medical infrastructure to the people of Gaza could collapse completely as a result of an intensified Israeli offensive in Rafah. Supply in Gaza has recently become more difficult due to the closure of Palestine’s only border with neighboring Egypt. The reason for this was Israel’s fear that arms deliveries could reach Gaza in this way. But now relief supplies are only reaching its residents to a limited extent.
Netanyahu resists pressure from Joe Biden despite canceling arms delivery
The Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) stressed that its forces will “continue to act against the terrorist organization Hamas, which uses the residents of the Gaza Strip as human shields for its terrorist activities and infrastructure.” So far, Israel has not responded to numerous international calls to refrain from a new escalation in the war against Hamas.
Previously also US President Joe Biden Pressure was put on Israel’s Prime Minister Netanyahu not to launch a comprehensive attack on Rafah, thereby denying him a planned delivery of around 3,500 weapons. Netanyahu rejected Biden’s pressure, saying Hamas has stationed most of its leaders and remaining troops in and around Rafah. This makes an Israeli intervention necessary. Last week, Netanyahu declared that Israel would “stand alone” in the fight against Hamas and, if necessary, fight with “fingernails.” (fh)
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