ISRAEL has ordered new evacuations of civilians from Rafah ahead of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s planned full-scale invasion.
Military tanks have encircled the entire eastern half of the refugee-filled city, which Israel says is Hamas’ last major stronghold in the Gaza Strip.
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Israeli military said on Saturday that its troops had moved into an area in northern Gaza where militant group Hamas had reassembled, and that about 300,000 Gazans had been evacuated from east Rafah.
Its tanks had by yesterday advanced to Salahuddin road which bisects the Gaza Strip, effectively cutting Rafah in half, leaving aid crossings inaccessible, and forcing an estimated 110,000 people to flee north.
On Saturday, Israel ordered more residents of eastern Rafah and the northern Strip to go to the “expanded humanitarian area” in al-Mawasi, reportedly dropping advisory leaflets at homes in the city.
Army spokesman Avichay Adraee told Palestinians living in Jabaliya, Beit Lahiya, and surrounding areas to evacuate the combat zone as Israel would soon be striking with great force.
Northern Gaza, where Hamas is said to have regrouped, has already been subjected to Israeli assaults.
It was the first target of Israel’s ground offensive and the military said it had dismantled the militant group in the area late last year.
But fighting flared again this week in the Zeitoun district.
At least 19 people – including eight women and eight children – were killed overnight in central Gaza in three different strikes, according to Al Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in Deir al Balah and an Associated Press journalist who counted the bodies.
Israel’s invasion of Rafah comes despite international opposition and US President Joe Biden threatening to halt shipments of weapons to Israel if Netanyahu proceeds with a major assault.
Some 1.5 million civilians who fled other war-torn parts of the Strip were estimated to have sought refuge in the city, living in makeshift shelters with limited access to food, water, and blankets.
Israeli troops entered eastern Rafah on Tuesday, in pursuit of Hamas militants, effectively shutting two crossings which had been used to funnel aid and fuel into Gaza.
They seized and closed the Palestinian side of the Rafah crossing and Israel’s southern crossing with Gaza, Kerem Shalom – which it said was reopened on Wednesday.
Both crossings remain “heavily militarised”, according to a UN report which came late on Friday.
Israel has said it will proceed with its planned assault on Rafah, but its move into the city has so far been short of a full-scale invasion.
After Mr Biden warned Israelis not to “go into Rafah” on Wednesday, Netanyahu said on Thursday: “If we must stand alone, we shall stand alone.
“If we must, we shall fight with our fingernails.
“But we have much more than our fingernails, and with that strength of spirit, with God’s help, together we shall be victorious.”
Biden’s administration had already paused the delivery of 3,500 heavy-duty bombs to Israel over fears they would be used to hit Rafah.
Hamas claimed on Friday that efforts to come to a hostage release-ceasefire deal were back at square one.
Renewed conflict between Israel and Hamas was sparked on October 7 when the militant group unleashed hell on Israel and murdered some 1,200 civilians, also dragging some 250 hostages back to Gaza.
About 35,000 people in Gaza are estimated to have died since Israel launched its retaliatory offensive, according to the Hamas-run territory’s health ministry.
Netanyahu has repeatedly said Israel must send ground troops into Rafah to wipe out Hamas’ remaining fighters, and that the war will not be over until this goal has been achieved.
Why is Israel invading Rafah?
ISRAELI tanks and forces are preparing to launch a full-scale invasion of Rafah – but why does Israel want to storm the southern Gaza city?
Israel says Rafah is Hamas’ last major stronghold in the Gaza Strip, with its military already having dismantled 18 of Hamas’ 24 battalions.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said: “We will enter Rafah because we have no other choice.
“We will destroy the Hamas battalions there, we will complete all the objectives of the war, including the return of all our hostages.”
The country believes Hamas has five battalions in Rafah and that its ground forces must move in to destroy them.
Hamas chief Yahya Sinwar, known as ‘Gaza’s Bin Laden’, is also believed to be holed up in tunnels beneath the city.
About 1.4 million Palestinians – more than half of Gaza’s population – have sought refuge in Rafah, having fled from cities, refugee camps, and villages further north.
Israel has said it will evacuate civilians from the city before invading – but the US and aid groups have warned it could be a bloodbath.
Israel’s military claims to have purchased 40,000 tents, each with the capacity for 10 to 12 people, to house Palestinians relocated from the city ahead of the assault.
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