Gazans fear Israeli advance on Rafah would 'end in massacres'
A doctor who left Gaza described Rafah as a "closed jail" with faecal matter running through streets so crowded that there is barely space for medics' vehicles to pass.
Fri, February 9, 2024
A Palestinian man mourns over shrouded bodies of relatives killed in overnight Israeli bombardment on the southern Gaza Strip at hospital in Rafah
Adel al-Hajj fears Israeli forces could at any moment launch an "invasion" of southern Gaza's Rafah city, where he and more than a million other Palestinians have fled for safety.
Teeming with displaced Gazans huddled in makeshift camps, Rafah has swelled to about five times its pre-war size since fighting between Israel and Gaza rulers Hamas erupted in October.
The city is one of the few areas spared an Israeli ground offensive, but Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said this week he had ordered troops to "prepare to operate" there.
Hajj, from Al-Shati refugee camp in northern Gaza, now lives in a tent in Rafah.
"There is not enough room in Rafah to accommodate everyone who has been displaced, and there is no safe place," he said.
An Israeli military push into the city could "end in massacres" of the hundreds of thousands trapped on the besieged territory's border with Egypt, said Hajj.
Tens of thousands of tents, some no more than sheets of tarpaulin held up by metal poles or tree branches, stretch as far as the eye can see.
Umm Ahmed al-Burai, a 59-year-old woman also from Al-Shati, is camping with her four daughters and three of her grandchildren close to an unfinished Qatari hospital in the west of Rafah.
"We first fled to Khan Yunis, then to Khirbat al-Adas," gradually heading south before reaching Rafah, she said.
After Netanyahu's remarks on Wednesday, "we took shelter near the Qatari hospital with my sister and her family."
If troops advance of Rafah, Burai said she feared "there will be massacres, there will be genocide."
"I don't know whether we will be able to flee to Egypt, or whether we will be massacred."
- 'Waiting to die' -
Since the war began, triggered by Hamas's October 7 attack on southern Israel, more than half of Gaza's 2.4 million people have fled to Rafah, according to the United Nations, facing dire humanitarian conditions.
The unprecedented attack resulted in the deaths of more than 1,160 people in Israel, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official figures.
Israel vowed to eliminate Hamas and launched a relentless military offensive that has killed at least 27,840 people in Gaza, most of them women and children, according to the Hamas-run territory's health ministry.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has warned that an Israeli military push into Rafah could "exponentially increase what is already a humanitarian nightmare with untold regional consequences".
Many displaced Gazans have taken shelter in Rafah's west because "they think that any possible invasion will start in the east," said an employee of the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, UNRWA.
Jaber Abu Alwan, 52, said "the bombardments have intensified since Netanyahu's comments".
"We're waiting to die," he said, still nurturing some hope of "returning home" to Khan Yunis, further north, once the fighting stops.
As the war raged into its fifth month, international mediators were trying to convince Hamas and Israel to agree to a new truce.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Thursday left Israel without securing a pause in fighting, wrapping up his fifth crisis tour of the Middle East since the war began.
Mohammad al-Jarrah, who fled from Gaza City, said the offensive on Rafah "seems to be near, because the bombardments have increased considerably".
"They told us that Rafah is a safe area for displaced people," he said, recalling being "displaced to Rafah after being displaced to Khan Yunis -- so this situation scares me".
"We don't know where to go."
az/mab/spm/ami
Palestinians fear time is running out in Rafah as Israel readies ground assault
Yasmine Salam and Yarden Segev
Fri, February 9, 2024
Palestinians in Rafah, the packed city on Gaza’s southern border, were terrified Friday of an impending Israeli ground assault — which the United States and aid groups have warned risks “disaster.”
More than half of the enclave's 2.3 million people have sought shelter in Rafah, crowding tents in refugee camps stalked by growing hunger, disease and more recently fear that there will be nowhere to escape if troops enter the city.
Washington said it could not support such an operation without proper planning, world leaders voiced growing alarm, and aid officials warned of a “bloodbath.”
In the face of that pressure, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu suggested Friday that civilians would be able to flee before the expected ground assault, which he said was necessary in the campaign against Hamas.
“It is clear that a massive operation in Rafah requires the evacuation of the civilian population from the combat zones,” Netanyahu said in a statement on social media. He ordered his military to prepare a plan but offered no further details.
The Israeli military did not immediately respond to a request for further details on the plan from NBC News.
Israeli airstrikes and bombs haven’t spared Rafah in this war — and have ramped up in recent days — but a ground offensive would make an already dire humanitarian situation much worse.
NBC News spoke to several residents who described mounting anxiety in the city, the last major population hub in Gaza that has not been taken over by Israeli troops.
“The last stop was supposed to be Rafah,” Isra Shehada, 33, told an NBC News crew on the bustling streets. “After Rafah, we only have God. Where can we go next ?”
But while Palestinians like Shehada saw Rafah as a last refuge, with at least basic infrastructure and aid present, Israel made clear this week that it views the city on the Egyptian border as a last remaining stronghold for Hamas.
“It is impossible to achieve the war goal of eliminating Hamas and leaving four Hamas battalions in Rafah,” Netanyahu's office said Friday. It said he had ordered the military to draw up “a dual plan for both the evacuation of the population and the dismantling of the battalions.”
His comments follow rare public pushback from the U.S., Israel’s closest ally.
Israeli attacks continue in Gaza (Ahmed Zaqout / Anadolu via Getty Images)
Israel's War In Gaza Enters Fifth Month, Humanitarian Situation Intensifies (Ahmad Hasaballah / Getty Images)
President Joe Biden said Thursday that its response in Gaza “has been over the top.”
John Kirby, the National Security Council spokesperson, said that a ground offensive in Rafah is “not something we would support.” Vedant Patel, a State Department spokesman, said that going ahead with such an offensive “with no planning and little thought in an area where there is sheltering of a million people would be a disaster.”
Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas denounced Netanyahu's call for an evacuation plan and said a ground assault into Rafah would pose “a real threat and a dangerous prelude to implementing the policy of displacing our people.”
Rafah was home to an estimated 250,000 people before the war, but has since been “stretched beyond its limits,” according to humanitarian officials, as Palestinians heeding Israeli evacuation calls and chasing relative safety fled to the city.
Local health officials say more than 27,900 people have been killed in Gaza since Israel launched its military campaign in the wake of the Oct. 7 Hamas terror attack, which Israeli officials say killed 1,200 people.
'Already a disaster'
Any attempt to evacuate from the overcrowded city would be neither feasible nor safe, said Andrea De Domenico, who heads the U.N. humanitarian agency responsible for the Palestinian territories.
“People are everywhere. This congestion not only makes it difficult for people to move but also hampers any potential evacuation efforts, and humanitarian operations,” she said in a statement from Gaza.
Satellite imagery shows the sprawling growth of makeshift shelters and tents that have transformed the enclave’s southernmost city over the past two months.
The city has been beset by soaring food prices, contaminated water and spreading disease. Incidents of theft have hampered what little aid is coming through, which charities describe as a “drop in the ocean” compared to the need.
“Rafah is already a disaster,” Amira Riyad, 30, said from an overcrowded hut. She said she was sharing a toilet with more than 50 people and struggles to find diapers for her 1-year-old daughter.
In some cases, Gazans have been forced to shelter in the most unlikely of places.
One family resorted to living in a chicken coop, with young children sleeping atop poultry cage shelves with nothing but flimsy mats and some blankets.
Though “the smell of the sewage at night is terrible, and the smell of the chicken is nasty,” Lana Hanoun, 8, said it was still better than the risk of shelling from which the family had fled several times.
But the situation would only be exacerbated by a ground assault.
The United Nations agency for Palestinian refugees, which has been the main humanitarian relief provider on the the ground since the onset of hostilities, warned it may be forced to cease operations.
“No war can be allowed in a gigantic refugee camp,” said Jan Egeland, secretary-general of the Norwegian Refugee Council, warning of a “bloodbath” if Israeli operations expand there.
As Palestinians have been pressed toward Egypt’s doorstep, towering concrete walls stand ominously at the border — a reminder of their perilous situation. Egypt has warned against any action that could force a mass displacement of Palestinians across its border.
Israeli-Palestinian conflict Rafah (Mohammed Talatene / DPA via Getty Images)
Egypt's Rafah border crossing with Gaza is mostly sealed, but has been the main entry point for humanitarian aid. The vast majority of Gazans are unable to cross, however.
The news of a potential Israeli operation was “very frightening,” said Mustafa Banna, who lived farther north in Gaza city before the war.
What worries the 29-year-old graphic designer most is the fate of his seven-month pregnant wife and his 6-year-old daughter Ayla. He said he wished he could cross into Egypt to ensure the health of his wife and children.
“We have no relatives or friends to displace to. Where should I go with my big family?”
This article was originally published on NBCNews.com
Aid groups warn of Rafah 'bloodbath' if Israel advances
Reuters
Fri, February 9, 2024
Tired of war, Gaza children fly kites to seek comfort
GENEVA (Reuters) - Any Israeli military advance into southern Gaza's Rafah area could cause mass deaths among the more than a million Palestinians trapped there, with humanitarian aid in danger of collapse, aid workers said on Friday.
Israel has threatened to advance from Khan Younis, Gaza's main southern city, to Rafah, where the population has increased five-fold as people have fled bombardment, often under evacuation orders, since Israel began its assault on Gaza's ruling Hamas movement.
Some 1.5 million people are now jammed into filthy, overcrowded shelters or on the street in a patch of land hemmed in by Egyptian and Israeli border fences and the Mediterranean Sea as well as Israeli forces.
Doctors and aid workers are struggling to supply even basic aid and stop the spread of disease.
"No war can be allowed in a gigantic refugee camp," said Jan Egeland, Secretary-General of the Norwegian Refugee Council, warning of a "bloodbath" if Israeli operations expand there.
"Expanded hostilities in Rafah could collapse the humanitarian response," NRC added in a statement.
Reuters has in recent days filmed the funerals of civilians killed in recent days by Israeli strikes.
Israel says it takes steps to avoid harming civilians and accuses Hamas militants of hiding among them, even in shelters - something Hamas denies.
Some 28,000 Palestinians have been confirmed killed, according to the Gaza health ministry, in a war triggered on Oct. 7 when Hamas militants killed 1,200 people and seized 253 hostages in Israel, according to Israeli tallies.
A doctor who left Gaza last week described Rafah as a "closed jail" with faecal matter running through streets so crowded that there is barely space for medics' vehicles to pass.
"If the same bombs used in Khan Younis were used in Rafah, it would be at least a doubling or tripling of the toll because it's so densely populated," said Dr Santosh Kumar.
The development charity ActionAid said some people were resorting to eating grass. "Every single person in Gaza is now hungry, and people have just 1.5 to 2 litres of unsafe water per day to meet all their needs," its statement said.
Humanitarian agencies say they cannot move people to safer areas because Israeli troops are positioned to the north, and that the aid that is allowed into the enclave is not nearly enough to go around.
"All our shelters are overflowing and cannot take any more people," said Juliette Touma, spokesperson for the U.N. agency for Palestinian refugees.
(Reporting by Emma Farge; Editing by Kevin Liffey)
Phil HAZLEWOOD
Fri, February 9, 2024
UNRWA commissioner general Philippe Lazzarini warned that military action would devastate civilians (Ludovic MARIN)
Major Israeli military action on Rafah, in Gaza's far south, would heap further devastation on civilians, the head of the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) warned Friday.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu this week said he had ordered troops to prepare to go into the city as Israel hunts down those behind Hamas's unprecedented October 7 attack on southern Israel.
But UNRWA chief Philippe Lazzarini, under pressure after Israel alleged 12 of the agency's staff took part in the deadly assault, said the humanitarian situation in Rafah was increasingly desperate.
More than 1.2 million people -- about half of the entire population of the Gaza Strip -- were now crowded into the city, sleeping on the streets in makeshift accommodation, with food and water scarce.
"Any large-scale military operation among this population can only lead to an additional layer of endless tragedy that's unfolding," he told reporters in Jerusalem.
"There's a sense of growing anxiety and growing panic in Rafah. People have absolutely no idea where to go after Rafah."
Lazzarini said air strikes had hit near UNRWA's base in Rafah on Thursday, heightening tensions and fear among civilians, and putting into doubt the agency's overall relief effort.
"I don't know how long we will be able to operate in such a high-risk environment," he added.
Police in southern Gaza were becoming increasingly reluctant to provide escorts for aid trucks that were being mobbed by Gazans desperate for food.
Eight police were killed in three separate air strikes in the last four days, he said, adding: "They're saying enough is enough."
Lazzarini had previously warned that the lives of at least 300,000 people in central and northern Gaza were at risk because of a lack of food, with UNRWA had been unable to reach the region for more than two weeks.
The United States on Thursday warned Israel that a push into Rafah without proper planning could lead to a "disaster" for civilians.
- Sackings -
Lazzarini sacked the UNRWA workers last month who Israel claimed had taken part in the Hamas attacks, prompting 16 countries to suspend $440 million in funding to the agency.
On Friday, he defended not following due process by initially suspending the individuals, insisting that because of the "explosive nature" of the claims, he had a wider judgement call to make.
"I felt at the time that not only the reputation but the ability of the entire agency to continue to operate and deliver critical humanitarian assistance was at stake if I did not take such a decision," he added.
He indicated that some form of redress could be available for those sacked if they are exonerated by an internal UN probe, which is due to report its preliminary findings within weeks.
Israel said it welcomed a separate independent review into UNRWA's neutrality, led by France's former foreign minister Catherine Colonna, and urged Israeli experts to be drafted onto the panel.
The group should also include "research institutes with relevant professional experience that includes counter-terrorism, security and vetting procedures", the foreign ministry added.
Lazzarini noted that Israel did not raise concerns about the accused individuals when their names were submitted last year for vetting with all 30,000 of UNRWA's staff, who work with Palestinian refugees in Gaza, the West Bank, Jordan, Lebanon and Syria.
Since the revelations, which Israel says justifies stopping UNRWA's activities in Gaza after the war, Lazzarini said the "hostile" environment against the agency had increased.
Bank accounts have been frozen and a consignment of food aid from Turkey to sustain 1.1 million people for a month had been blocked for 10 days at the Israeli port of Ashdod, he added.
The Israeli authorities had instructed the contractor not to handle it because payment was handled by a Palestinian bank, he went on.
The suspension of funding had not affected operations, he said, and he was "cautiously optimistic" of increased support from Gulf nations.
phz/rsc/spm
Paul Godfrey & Doug Cunningham
Fri, February 9, 2024
Feb. 9 (UPI) -- Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Friday Israeli forces will go forward with a ground offensive in Rafah, but the IDF will help civilians evacuate.
Netanyahu's office issued the announcement as the United States and international groups have opposed the Rafah offensive over concerns for the safety of displaced civilians.
"It is impossible to achieve the goal of the war of eliminating Hamas by leaving four Hamas battalions in Rafah," Netanyahu's office said "On the contrary, it is clear that intense activity in Rafah requires that civilians evacuate the areas of combat."
It added that Netanyahu had "ordered the IDF and the security establishment to submit to the Cabinet a combined plan for evacuating the population and destroying the battalions."
Netanyahu had earlier said that the military had been instructed to prepare for a ground offensive on what he called "Hamas' last bastion."
This prompted National Security spokesman John Kirby to warn that such an operation without serious planning to safeguard civilians would be "a disaster."
"More than a million Palestinians are sheltering in and around Rafah. That's where they were told to go. There's a lot of displaced people there," told a press briefing in Washington.
"The Israeli military has a special obligation to make sure that they're factoring in protection for innocent civilian life, particularly, you know, the civilians that were pushed into southern Gaza by operations further north in Khan Younis and North Gaza.
"Absent any full consideration of protecting civilians at that scale in Gaza -- military operations right now would be a disaster for those people, and it's not something that we would support," said Kirby.
Speaking to reporters at the White House on Thursday evening, U.S. President Joe Biden added his voice to that of his officials saying "[Israel's] conduct of the response in the Gaza strip has been over the top," although he did not mention Rafah specifically.
In a Thursday statement UNICEF called urgently for the parties to refrain from military escalation in Rafah where it said more than 600,000 children and their families are gathered after being displaced from their homes by combat.
"An escalation of the fighting in Rafah, which is already straining under the extraordinary number of people who have been displaced from other parts of Gaza, will mark another devastating turn in a war that has reportedly killed over 27,000 people - most of them women and children," UNICEF said. "Thousands more could die in the violence or by lack of essential services, and further disruption of humanitarian assistance."
On Wednesday, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, speaking in Tel Aviv where he had been meeting government officials regarding a cease-fire proposal, said any "military operation that Israel undertakes needs to put civilians first and foremost in mind and that's especially true in the case of Rafah".
The population of Rafah, on the southern border with Egypt, has been swelled five-fold to more than 1.4 million as people have fled further and further south to escape the fighting, the majority of them living in tents.
Western districts of the city were hit heavily by airstrikes and tank fire from Israeli forces on Thursday morning killing at least 13 people, according to Gaza's Hamas-run Health Ministry -- but no indications of an all-out offensive as yet.
