On Saturday, Israel issued fresh orders for the evacuation of the city of Rafah, which is located in the southern region of Gaza. These orders compelled tens of thousands of more residents to leave the city as Israel prepared to push its military operation further into what is regarded as Gaza's final refuge. This action was taken in spite of rising pressure from the United States and other countries.
Israeli military forces said that they were going into a region of the damaged northern Gaza region, where they declared that the Hamas terrorist organization had reassembled after seven months of combat. This announcement came at the same time that pro-Palestinian demonstrations against the war resumed.
Senior military spokesperson Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari reported that "targeted operations continued" in the eastern third of Rafah, killing scores of terrorists. Israel has now evacuated the eastern third of Rafah. The United Nations has issued a warning that the planned full-scale assault on Rafah will significantly impede humanitarian efforts and lead to an increase in the number of civilian casualties throughout the conflict.
Rafah borders Egypt and is situated near the major aid access ports, which are already under threat. Israeli forces have seized control of the Gaza side of the Rafah border, leading to the closure of the crossing. According to a report by the state-owned television station Al Qahera News, which cited an official who wished to remain anonymous, Egypt has declined to collaborate with Israel about the delivery of supplies via the crossing. "The unacceptable Israeli escalation" prompted this decision.
Joe Biden, the Vice President of the United States, has said that he would not give hostile weaponry to Israel for Rafah. In what is considered to be the most forceful statement that the United States government has made about this issue, his administration said on Friday that there was "reasonable" evidence that Israel had violated international law safeguarding civilians.
In response, Ophir Falk, who serves as the foreign policy adviser to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, stated to The Associated Press that Israel abides by the laws of armed conflict and that the army takes extensive measures to prevent civilian casualties. These measures include notifying people of military operations through phone calls and text messages.
A total of more than 1.4 million Palestinians, which accounts for half of Gaza's population, have taken refuge in Rafah. The majority of these individuals have fled Israel's offensives in other areas. The most recent evacuations are forcing some people to return to the north, where past assaults have caused damage. The aid organizations estimate that 110,000 people had already left before the Saturday order, adding an additional 40,000.
Would you want us to wait till we all pass away on top of one another? As residents of Rafah hurried to load mattresses, water tanks, and other things into trucks, Hanan al-Satari, a resident of Rafah, said that people had made the decision to depart.
In Gaza, the Israeli army does not have a secure location to operate from. Abu Yusuf al-Deiri, a former resident of Gaza City, stated that the Israeli army targets everything.
Many people have undergone multiple relocations. There are just a few locations remaining to visit. Israel has designated some areas along the Muwasi coastal strip as humanitarian-safe zones. These areas are already crowded, with over 450,000 people living in deplorable circumstances. Distributing some Palestinians to these areas is underway.
According to Georgios Petropoulos, who works for the United Nations humanitarian organization in Rafah, assistance workers do not have any resources to assist individuals in establishing themselves in other areas.
His statement was, "We simply do not have any tents, blankets, or bedding," and he was right.
According to Petropoulos, the World Food Program has said that it will run out of food to distribute in southern Gaza by Saturday. This presents an additional obstacle at a time when some regions of Gaza are experiencing what the head of the WFP has referred to as "full-blown famine." Humanitarian organizations expect the fuel supply to run out soon, forcing hospitals to halt essential operations.
There was also heavy combat going on in the northern part of Gaza, there was also heavy combat, and Hagari said that the air force was conducting airstrikes over the region. Israel not only warned the Palestinians living in Jabaliya, Beit Lahiya, and the adjacent regions that it would attack with "great force," but also instructed them to evacuate to shelters located to the west of Gaza City.
Israel launched its ground invasion on the northern Gaza region after Hamas and other terrorists attacked southern Israel on October 7. The onslaught resulted in the deaths of over 1,200 people, the majority of whom were civilians, as well as the kidnapping of another 250 individuals. They continue to detain around one hundred hostages, with the corpses of more than thirty more. Hamas claimed on Saturday that captive Nadav Popplewell had died following an Israeli attack one month prior, but they did not provide any evidence to back up their claim.
According to Gaza's Health Ministry, which does not differentiate between civilians and fighters in its estimates, Israel's shelling and ground offensives have resulted in the deaths of more than 34,800 Palestinians, the majority of whom were women and children. Israel holds Hamas accountable for civilian fatalities and accuses Hamas of hiding in residential areas with a high population density.
The Health Ministry had already declared that there were mass graves at Shifa Hospital, which is the main hospital in northern Gaza and was the subject of an earlier Israeli attack. Civil officials in Gaza have provided more data about these mass graves. According to the authorities, the majority of the eighty corpses were those of patients who had passed away due to a lack of medical attention. One of the statements made by the Israeli army was that "any attempt to blame Israel for burying civilians in mass graves is categorically false."
According to Al Aqsa Martyrs Hospital and an Associated Press journalist who counted the remains, strikes that targeted Zawaida, Maghazi, and Deir al-Balah overnight in central Gaza resulted in the deaths of at least 19 people, including eight women and eight children. They reported that the strikes took place overnight.
A member of the family said, "Children, what is the fault of the children who took their own lives?" A mother gently patted one of the toddlers who was resting on the ground.
Another round of cease-fire talks in Cairo concluded this week without making any significant progress. This was due to Israel's refusal to accept a plan that Hamas had said it had accepted.
Tens of thousands of people attended the most recent anti-government demonstration in Israel on Saturday evening amid growing pressure on Netanyahu to reach a compromise.
A demonstrator by the name of Kobi Itzhaki said, "I believe the operation in Rafah is not intended for the hostages and it is not intended for killing the Hamas; it is intended for just one thing, which is to save the government as a whole."
