Israel draws evacuation plan for Rafah civilians
Some 1.2 displaced Palestinians brace for battle between Israeli troops and Hamas terrorists
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Some 1.2 displaced Palestinians brace for battle between Israeli troops and Hamas terrorists
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is firm on confronting Hamas terrorists holed up in Rafah but said some 1.2 Palestinian civilians taking refuge in the southern Gaza city will be given safe passage.
“We’re going to do it while providing safe passage for the civilian population so they can leave,” Netanyahu told ABC News Sunday.
When asked how such a large number of people sheltering in makeshift tents can go, Netanyahu would only say they are “working out a detailed plan.”
The Israeli premier, who contends “victory” over Hamas cannot be achieved without clearing battalions in Rafah, directed his military on Friday to prepare for the operation. His announcement set off a chorus of concern from world leaders and aid groups.
The announcement came only days after United States Secretary of State Antony Blinken visited Israel seeking a ceasefire and hostage-prisoner exchange.
Gaza’s Hamas rulers warned on Saturday that a full-scale Israeli invasion of Rafah could cause “tens of thousands” of casualties.
The office of Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas said the move “threatens security and peace in the region and the world” and is “a blatant violation of all red lines.”
Rafah has become the last major Gaza city that troops have yet to enter, even as it is bombarded by air strikes almost daily.
“They said Rafah is safe, but it is not. All places are being targeted,” Palestinian Mohammed Saydam said after an Israeli strike destroyed a police vehicle in Rafah on Saturday.
The Israeli military said it killed two “senior Hamas operatives” in a strike on Rafah Saturday.
It was part of a wider bombardment that killed at least 25 people in the city, according to the Hamas-run health ministry.
Meanwhile, Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz called for the head of the United Nations agency for Palestinian refugees or UNRWA to quit after troops uncovered a Hamas tunnel under its evacuated headquarters.
Philippe Lazzarini called for an independent investigation into the latest Israeli accusations.
An Agence France-Presse photographer was among a number of journalists taken to the compound and tunnel by the Israeli military on Thursday.
UN premises are considered “inviolable” in international law and immune from “search, requisition, confiscation, expropriation and any other form of interference.”
Hamas has repeatedly denied Israeli accusations that it has dug a network of tunnels under schools, hospitals and other civilian infrastructure as cover for its activities.
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