The Israeli army on Saturday again ordered Palestinian refugees living in eastern Rafah to evacuate the area. Therefore, a significant expansion of its military operations in the city is expected, in addition to the displacement of hundreds of thousands more Palestinians. . Israel launched a military operation on Monday in Rafah, the refuge city in the southern Gaza Strip for 1.4 million Gazans evacuated by the conflict, which has already killed 34,971 people, according to Gaza Health Ministry figures.
“Following the Israeli Army's targeted operations in specific areas of eastern Rafah, and following the terrorist activities and shootings carried out by Hamas from the area, the IDF has asked the population of other areas in eastern Rafah to temporarily evacuate to the expanded humanitarian zone in Al-Mawasi,” read the statement from Israeli army spokesman Daniel Hagari.
According to the army, around 300,000 Gazans have so far moved to the Al-Mawasi “humanitarian zone”, close to Khan Yunis and where hundreds of thousands of people transferred from the north of the Gaza Strip are already gathering. It is an area that the Israeli government considers 'humanitarian', but according to international organizations there are major deficiencies in basic services. Humanitarian workers have reported 'horrific' conditions in that area, according to reportsGuardian'.
Egypt, a country bordering the Gaza Strip, refused this Saturday to coordinate with Benjamin Netanyahu's government the entry of aid through the Rafah crossing, which has been controlled by the Israeli army since Friday. According to the Reuters agency, the Egyptian government assures that Israel is making an “unacceptable escalation” with its invasion of the last stronghold of the Strip, where more than a million people take refuge. Egypt has also accused Israel of being solely responsible for the deterioration of the humanitarian situation.
Israeli forces have also stated that they will move to Jabaliya, in the northern part of Gaza, from where they are also urging the remaining population to evacuate. According to the IDF statement, the decision is consistent with “Hamas' efforts to reassemble its terrorist infrastructure.” “This is intended to reduce harm to the civilian population and remove civilians from the combat zone, in accordance with international law,” the military stressed.
The EU reiterates its rejection of the Rafah land invasion
Refugees in Rafah receive news of the evacuation call through leaflets dropped from the sky, as has happened on previous occasions. The IDF spokesperson also says in text messages, phone calls and broadcasts in the Arab media. Hagari asked Palestinians to leave their homes and go to shelters in western Gaza, warning them that they were in a “dangerous combat zone” and that Israel will attack “with force.”
European Council President Charles Michel has urged Israel to “respect humanitarian laws” and asked the country “not to continue with the ground operation” in Rafah. “Evacuation orders for civilians trapped in Rafah to go to unsafe areas are unacceptable,” Michel has written in X. The president also reiterated the need for all border points in the Gaza Strip to remain operational so that humanitarian aid can enter.
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz also assured this Saturday that the offensive on Rafah “would be irresponsible”, adding that he had conveyed this to the Israeli Prime Minister, according to Reuters. “We do not believe there is a strategy that does not result in a major loss of innocent life,” Scholz said.
Another 80 bodies found in three mass graves in Gaza's Shifa hospital
On a day marked by new announcements of forced displacement, Gaza authorities also reported the discovery of another 80 bodies in mass graves at Gaza's Shifa Hospital. Civil Protection authorities and the Gaza Strip Ministry of Health have discovered three mass graves where the Israeli army carried out a military operation in April that lasted more than a week.
The Gaza government, controlled by Hamas, claims to have found more than 520 bodies in recent weeks in seven mass graves in hospital complexes attacked by Israeli forces, such as Shifa, Naser in Khan Younis or Kamal Adwan in Beit Lahia. Bodies were also found in apartments around the hospital, which was completely destroyed and out of use.
Israel rejects American pressure
Israel's prime minister has rejected US pressure to delay an attack on Rafah, claiming Hamas is holding many of its leaders there. The American government concluded this yesterday It is “reasonable to judge” that Israel has violated international law in the war against Gaza. The statement comes from the North American State Department report, prepared at the request of President Joe Biden.
The text, presented to Congress, notes that “the results on the ground, including the high number of civilian casualties, raise substantial doubts” about whether the Israeli army is taking the necessary measures to improve the situation for civilians in Gaza. to give it a different direction. Yet the US avoids claiming that Israel has violated international legal norms.
Also the The United Nations and other organizations have been warning for weeks that an Israeli military attack on Rafah, which borders Egypt and is the main access route for humanitarian aid, would leave Gaza isolated and cause a disastrous increase in civilian casualties. However, Israel has taken control of the border crossing. Since the Israeli siege of this area in the south of the Strip began, the supply of humanitarian aid and fuel for hospital operations has declined sharply, and supplies have not entered the city for five days.
Meanwhile, the student movement is organizing internationally and continues to protest the killing of civilians in Gaza. Many groups of university students are camping on campuses in the US, France, UK, Netherlands or Spain to demand the cessation of relations between their governments and institutions with Israel. The Spanish universities decided this on Thursday sever relations with Israeli centers that they are not “committed to peace” in support of “the sentiments of our campuses and the demands spreading from them.”