The Israeli army launched a new wave of air raids and artillery fire in southern Gaza, forcing Palestinians to flee crowded Rafah ahead of a ground invasion feared and condemned by world leaders.
The United Nations humanitarian agency OCHA said on Thursday that people, already repeatedly displaced during the four-month conflict, were heading towards Deir el-Balah and the Nuseirat refugee camp in the center. from the Gaza Strip.
Rafah was a designated “safe zone” and the last refuge for Palestinians forced to flee Israel’s land, air and sea attacks on the rest of the enclave. An estimated 1.4 million Palestinians have found some measure of safety there in tents and makeshift shelters.
UN aid chief Martin Griffiths has warned that Palestinians in Rafah could be forced to flee to Egypt if Israel launches its planned military operation against the border town.
“The possibility of a military operation in Rafah, with the possibility of closure of the border post, with the possibility of overflows… a kind of Egyptian nightmare… is before our eyes,” Griffiths told diplomats at the UN. in Geneva on Thursday.
He said the idea that Gaza residents could evacuate to a safe place was an “illusion.”
“We must all hope that Israel’s friends and those who care about Israel’s security will give them good advice at this time,” Griffiths added.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reiterated Wednesday his goal of eradicating Hamas by all means, including a military operation in Rafah.
“We will fight until complete victory, and that includes strong action also in Rafah after allowing the civilian population to leave the combat zones,” he said.
Mirjana Spoljaric, director of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), said the lack of a clear evacuation plan, including for the sick and elderly, would take suffering to a new level.
“The suffering on both sides, the carnage we have witnessed since October 7, will reach unimaginable depths if operations on Rafah are intensified as they have been announced,” Spoljaric said.
As Israeli forces are also engaged in military operations in central and northern Gaza, any mass movement further north would be fraught with danger.
On Thursday, the Israeli army stormed Nasser Hospital, the main medical facility in Khan Younis, southern Gaza.
The military called the attack “precise and limited,” adding that it was based on “credible information” that Hamas fighters were hiding in the facility and being held captive there. A Hamas spokesperson denied the allegations, calling them “lies.”
“This is a continuation of the war of extermination, targeting hospitals and destroying civilian structures in the Gaza Strip, and the occupation continues to defy international laws that make hospitals protected places,” he said. Hamas said in a statement, adding that “the whole world is watching without any serious and effective action to stop it.”
There was heavy fire from tanks and machine guns as troops entered the compound after ordering the occupants to evacuate.
From Rafah, Tel Aviv Tribune’s Hani Mahmoud said earlier that Israeli forces “bulldozed” the hospital’s southern fence on Thursday and moved toward the main building, rounding up “doctors and nurses at the hospital.” interior”.
“The Israeli army is preventing them from treating the many wounded. Right now, people are being attacked inside Nasser Hospital,” he said.
On Wednesday, Israel said it had opened a secure corridor for displaced people to leave the hospital, but allowed doctors and patients to stay.
Medical charity Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) said people ordered to evacuate by Israel faced an impossible choice: stay “and become a potential target” or leave “into an apocalyptic landscape” bomb attacks.
Mohamad Elmasry, a professor at the Doha Institute of Higher Studies, told Tel Aviv Tribune that Israel’s siege of the hospital and its plans to establish it in Rafah are all part of the “same story” and that Israel “seeks to make life unbearable for Palestinians.” “.
Gaza’s health ministry said at least 28,663 people have been killed in Israeli attacks since the start of the war, and at least 68,395 have been injured. According to the statement, 87 Palestinians were killed and 104 injured in the past 24 hours.
