Overnight rains, a looming Israel offensive and fading hopes of a ceasefire on Monday compounded fears in the southern city of Rafah in Gaza, as over 1,00,000 Palestinians evacuated from sodden refugee camps and homes to an Israel-designated humanitarian zone.
Rafah, which serves as a shelter for around 1.4 million Palestinians, was being evacuated as the Israeli military spoke of a “limited scope” operation. Wary of conflict that has extended for seven months, people once again loaded their families and belongings on carts, cars or commenced a 20-kilometre-journey on foot.
Although people were being moved into humanitarian areas that were “safer”, the Israeli military cautioned that Hamas was known to fire from those areas. It added that it was not setting a timeframe for the Rafah evacuation, however, but would make operational assessments.
In a statement, the military said posters, text messages, phone calls and media announcements would be used to “encourage … the gradual movement of civilians in the specified areas”. Army Radio said evacuees would be directed to tent cities in nearby Khan Younis and Al Muwassi.
People look on as displaced people dismantle their tents after the Israeli military began evacuating Palestinian civilians ahead of a threatened assault on Rafah, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas, in Rafah, in the southern Gaza Strip. (Reuters)
Lt. Col. Nadav Shoshani, an army spokesman, said Israel has expanded the size of the zone and that it included tents, food, water and field hospitals.
Hours after the evacuation orders, the Israeli military carried out air strikes in Rafah.
Israel says the city of Rafah harbours thousands of Hamas fighters, with whom it has been engaged in conflict since October 7, leading to 1,200 casualties.
Conditions at Muwasi
Around 450,000 displaced Palestinians are already sheltering in Muwasi. The UN agency for Palestinian refugees, known as UNRWA, said it has been providing them with aid. But conditions are squalid, with few bathrooms or sanitation facilities in the largely rural area, forcing families to dig private latrines.
‘Worst humanitarian disaster’ in the offing?
Aid agencies have warned that the evacuation order will lead to an even worse humanitarian disaster in the crowded coastal enclave of 2.3 million people reeling from seven months of war. “Forcing over a million displaced Palestinians from Rafah to evacuate without a safe destination is not only unlawful but would lead to catastrophic consequences,” British charity ActionAid said.
Asserting that it will not evacuate from Rafah, UNRWA said the Israeli offensive will mean more civilian suffering and deaths. “The agency will maintain a presence in Rafah as long as possible and will continue providing life-saving aid to people,” the agency said.
Palestinians search for casualties under the rubble of a house destroyed in an Israeli strike, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas, in Rafah, in the southern Gaza Strip. (Reuters)
Reactions to evacuation call
US President Joe Biden on Monday spoke with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and reiterated US concerns about an invasion of Rafah. Biden said that a cease-fire with Hamas is the best way to protect the lives of Israeli hostages held in Gaza, a National Security Council spokesperson said on condition of anonymity.
Hamas and key mediator Qatar said invading Rafah will derail efforts by international mediators to broker a cease-fire. Hamas also said in a statement that any offensive in Rafah would not be a “picnic” for Israeli forces and said it was fully prepared to defend Palestinians there.
Egypt urged Israel to exercise the “highest levels of self-restraint” in Gaza, saying any military operation there would carry grave humanitarian risks. Earlier, security sources said Egypt had raised its military level of preparedness in northern Sinai, which borders Gaza.
European Union Foreign Policy chief Josep Borrell said the evacuation orders mean “more war and famine”. Meanwhile, the French foreign ministry said, “France also recalls that the forced displacement of a civilian population constitutes a war crime under international law.”
Saudi Arabia warned Israel against targeting Rafah as part of what it called a “bloody and systematic” campaign to storm all areas of Gaza and displace its citizens, the foreign ministry said in a statement
Jordan said that failing to prevent the “massacre in the making” in Palestine will be an “indelible stain on the international community”.
UNRWA won’t evacuate from Rafah so it can continue to provide aid to those who stay behind, said Scott Anderson, the agency’s director in Gaza. “We will provide aid to people wherever they choose to be,” he told the AP.
The UN said an attack on Rafah could disrupt the distribution of aid keeping Palestinians alive across Gaza. The Rafah crossing into Egypt, a main entry point for aid to Gaza, lies in the evacuation zone. The crossing remained open Monday after the Israeli order.
What happened on Sunday?
The evacuation order came just a day after Hamas fired rockets at Israeli troops positioned on the border with Gaza near Israel’s main crossing for delivering humanitarian aid, killing four soldiers. Israel shuttered the crossing — but Shoshani said it wouldn’t affect how much aid enters Gaza as others are working.
Meanwhile, Israeli airstrikes on Rafah killed 22 people, including children and two infants, according to a hospital.
No sign of ceasefire
The mediators over the cease-fire — the United States, Egypt and Qatar — appeared to scramble to salvage a cease-fire deal they had been trying to push through the past week. Egypt said it was in touch with all sides Monday to “prevent the situation from … getting out of control.”
With inputs from agencies