Israeli army tells civilian population to leave eastern Rafah | Israel

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) are issuing, this Monday morning, a series of warnings to the civilian population in the eastern region of Rafah, advising Palestinian residents and displaced people to leave the area and head to for an “extended humanitarian zone” in the south of the Gaza Strip.

The IDF says the warnings are being issued through “announcements, text messages, phone calls and television announcements in Arabic” and speak of a temporary military operation of “limited scope”.

They do not clarify, however, whether they will finally begin the large-scale military offensive that the country’s political leaders have assured for several months that it is coming soon, despite the opposition of its main allies, namely the United States, which assume that there will be no ” an effective plan that guarantees the protection of civilians”.

“This is a dangerous escalation and will have consequences”, reacted Sami Abu Zuhri, leader of Hamas, cited by Reuters. “The US Administration, along with the occupant [Israel]bears responsibility for this terrorism.”

The IDF believes there are four Hamas battalions operational in Rafah and argues that the war against the Islamist movement in Gaza — initiated by Israel after Hamas killed more than a thousand people and kidnapped 248 (128 of whom are still in the enclave) — forces a land incursion into Rafah, which will allow them to neutralize or destroy these military units.

According to the United Nations, there are currently around 1.2 million people in Rafah, near the border with Egypt, many of them in need of urgent humanitarian assistance.

Quoted by the Associated Press, Lieutenant Colonel Nadav Shoshani, IDF spokesman, said that around 100,000 people were being ordered to move to the Al-Mawasi area. Despite its designation as a safe zone by the Israeli military, Al-Mawasi has not been spared violence in recent months.

The call for IDF evacuation comes hours after Hamas fired at least ten rockets towards the Kerem Shalom (Karam Abu Salem) border post area, an attack that killed three soldiers and injured eleven others, and which the Israeli Army says was launched from Rafah, 350 meters from a civilian shelter.

The request also comes after the leaders of Hamas and the Israeli Government exchanged accusations about responsibility for a new failure in negotiations between the two parties for a new truce in the fighting — there was one in November last year, which allowed the release of several hostages.

In a message to the country, broadcast on Sunday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reported that his government rejected Hamas’ latest demands to put a definitive end to the war in the Gaza Strip, arguing that any permanent ceasefire would allow the Islamist movement continues to pose a threat to Israel’s security.

Ismail Haniyeh, leader of the bureau Hamas politician, accused Netanyahu of “continuing the aggression, expanding the circle of conflict and sabotaging the efforts made through mediators and the various parties” and of having no interest in an agreement.

After far-right ministers of the Israeli Government, such as Itamar Ben-Gvir (National Security), appealed, via social media, for the start of the invasion of Rafah, the Israeli Ministry of Defense reported, this Monday, that a phone call between Minister Yoav Gallant and the US Secretary of State for Defense, Lloyd Austin, which ended with the Israeli conclusion that it has “no alternative but to continue carrying out its military operation”, including in Rafah.

“During the conversation [com Austin]Gallant discussed the efforts undertaken to achieve the release of the hostages and indicated that, at this stage, Hamas refuses the draft [para um acordo] that we have in hand. Gallant emphasized that military action is necessary, including in the Rafah area, in the absence of an alternative”, reads the statement, cited by Reuters.

“Our war in Gaza continues with the same objectives: the release of all hostages and the defeat of Hamas”, wrote on X (formerly Twitter) this morning, the Minister of Foreign Affairs Israeli, Israel Katz.

According to Palestinian health authorities, the IDF’s military offensive in the Gaza Strip has killed more than 34,600 people, the vast majority of them civilians.