Israeli troops hit the city of Rafah, in the south of the Gaza Strip, with airstrikes this Friday, February 9. The attacks against the border town with Egypt were carried out despite the fact that a day earlier the United States Government indicated that it does not support the offensive in that area and warned that it would cause a “disaster” because the majority of Gazans would displaced people have taken refuge there. At least eight people were killed in Rafah alone. The total number of fatalities increased to 27,947, indicated the local Ministry of Health.
First modification:
4 min
Not even the warnings of its great ally stop the Israeli Army's fire on Gaza. The bombs hit different areas of the densely populated city of Rafah in the early hours of this Friday, February 9, causing further devastation and death.
This is the last corner at the southern end of the blocked strip of land, where more than half of the population of 2.3 million people are trapped without the possibility of crossing the fence into Egypt.
A residential building near the Kuwait hospital was one of the hit sites, where five Gazans were killed, including three children and a woman. Three more Palestinians were killed in another attack on the town. At least eight residents lost their lives in Rafah alone, but no corner of Gaza is free from the siege. In total, they registered 107 fatalities in the last 24 hours throughout the enclavewhile The death toll in the four months of war amounted to 27,947reported the local Ministry of Health.
But behind each figure are families devastated by the loss of their loved ones, including children. The majority of internally displaced persons arrived in Rafah following the orders of the Israeli Army in the first weeks of the ongoing conflict, when it launched the land incursion into the north of the territory. There is no more room to flee.
“What can we do? This is the work of the cowardly Zionist enemy who chooses innocent civilians. Is this girl shooting rockets at Jews? May God help us,” shouted a woman who arrived with a minor in her arms at the Al-Aqsa hospital, in northern Gaza, after being the victim of a bombing.
Other injured children were treated while lying on the ground. Hospitals operate with precarious resources. Many were only authorized to offer first aid due to the lack of medical supplies and anesthesia to perform surgeries or treat serious injuries.
Israel intensified its offensive in Rafah, just hours after the United States State Department indicated that a military operation in that city, “without planning and little reflection” would be “a disaster,” given the magnitude of civilians in the area. Therefore, Washington stressed that he would not support an incursion into that city.
Joe Biden assures that he is pressing for a ceasefire in Gaza
Israeli troops concentrated on air strikes against Rafah this Friday and the United States hopes to achieve a pause in the fighting before the military carries out a ground incursion into the southern city.
President Joe Biden assured on Thursday, February 8, that he is seeking a “sustained pause in fighting” to help sick and wounded Palestinian civilians.
His position contrasts with that of the first weeks of the current offensive. Biden went from describing the loss of Palestinian civilian life as “the price of fighting a war” to now calling the response of Israeli forces “excessive.”
“I am of the opinion, as you know, that the response in the Gaza Strip has been exaggerated (…) I am pushing hard now to address this ceasefire with hostages. “There are a lot of innocent people who are starving, a lot of innocent people who are in trouble and dying, this has to stop,” the president said, in the strongest comments he has expressed about Israel's actions in the last four months.
Although since the ongoing escalation of the conflict sparked – after Hamas's bloody assault on Israel on October 7 – the US president has shown his “firm” support for the armed operations of the majority state in Gaza, in recent weeks he has qualified his position.
And the fact is that in addition to the magnitude of destruction and deaths that are difficult to hide, there is internal pressure on the president, who is seeking re-election, to intervene with his great ally in the Middle East in order to stop his attacks.
However, so far, the Israeli Army dismisses the calls and intensifies its offensive against what it claims are places where Hamas militants take refuge, a group it promises to eliminate. Despite the mediators' current efforts for a ceasefire and Washington's attempts at deterrence, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu promises to go “to the end.”
With Reuters and AP
#Israeli #Army #attacks #Rafah #warns #39disaster39
