The Israeli army bombed targets in the crowded city of Rafah, hours after US officials warned Tel Aviv against expanding its ground offensive towards the southern city, where more than half of the 2, 3 million inhabitants of the Gaza Strip have found refuge.
US President Joe Biden called Israel’s conduct in the war “exaggerated”, in Washington’s harshest criticism of its close ally yet, amid concerns over increase in the number of civilian deaths in the enclave.
As the war enters its fifth month, Israeli ground forces are still focused on the town of Khan Younis, just north of Rafah, but Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has repeatedly said Rafah will be next, seeding panic among hundreds of thousands of displaced people. there.
Netanyahu ordered soldiers to prepare for a land entry into Rafah, alarming Egypt, which said any ground operation in the Rafah region or mass movement across the border would undermine its 40-year-old peace treaty. years with Israel. The largely closed border between Gaza and Egypt is also the main entry point for humanitarian aid.
An estimated 1.2 million people have fled to Rafah, obeying Israeli evacuation orders in anticipation of military bombardments and the ever-expanding ground offensive. Evacuation orders now cover two-thirds of the besieged territory, although around 300,000 Palestinians remain in the northern half of Gaza, which civilians were ordered to leave at the start of the war.
Even in areas that Israel has declared “safe zones,” such as Rafah, it regularly launches airstrikes against what it considers Hamas targets. He holds the Palestinian group responsible for civilian casualties in Gaza, saying it operates from civilian areas.