The Israeli military yesterday issued sweeping evacuation orders covering most of Rafah, indicating it could soon launch another major ground operation in the southernmost city in the Gaza Strip.
Israel ended its ceasefire with the Hamas militant group, and renewed its air and ground war earlier last month.
At the beginning of last month, it cutoff all supplies of food, fuel, medicine and humanitarian aid to the territory’s roughly 2 million Palestinians to pressure Hamas to accept changes to the truce agreement.
Photo: AFP
The evacuation orders appeared to cover nearly all of the city and nearby areas. The military ordered Palestinians to head to Muwasi, a sprawl of squalid tent camps along the coast. The orders came during Eid al-Fitr, a normally festive Muslim holiday marking the end of the fasting month of Ramadan.
Israel launched a major operation in Rafah, on the border with Egypt, in May last year, leaving large parts of it in ruins. The military seized a strategic corridor along the border, as well as the Rafah crossing with Egypt, Gaza’s only gateway to the outside world that was not controlled by Israel.
Israel was supposed to withdraw from the corridor under the ceasefire it signed with Hamas in January under US pressure, but it later refused to, citing the need to prevent weapons smuggling.
Israel has vowed to intensify its military operations until Hamas releases the remaining 59 hostages it holds — 24 of whom are believed to be alive. Israel has also demanded that Hamas disarm and leave the territory, conditions that were not included in the ceasefire agreement and which Hamas has rejected.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday said that Israel would take charge of security in Gaza after the war and implement US President Donald Trump’s proposal to resettle Gaza’s population in other countries, describing it as “voluntary emigration.”
That plan has been universally rejected by Palestinians, who view it as forcible expulsion from their homeland, and human rights experts say it would likely violate international law.
In related news, Netanyahu has nominated a new domestic security chief, after he moved to fire the current one over a crisis of confidence that critics say was politically motivated.
Netanyahu yesterday nominated former navy commander Vice Admiral Eli Sharvit to lead the agency, which surveils and thwarts attacks from Palestinian militant groups.
Earlier last month, Netanyahu moved to fire Shin Bet chief Ronen Bar, a step that sparked an uproar in Israel. Netanyahu said he lost faith in Bar over Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, attacks and disagreements over ceasefire negotiations.
However, critics said the dismissal undermined Israel’s independent state institutions and came at a problematic time, as Bar and the agency were investigating links between the Gulf state of Qatar and close advisers to Netanyahu.
Israel’s High Court froze Bar’s dismissal pending further hearings, but cleared the way for Netanyahu to interview candidates for the job.
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