Israel Begins Evacuating Rafah To Begin The Invasion And Informs Egyptian Army
The Israeli army announced that it had ordered residents to evacuate the eastern outskirts of the Rafah area, south of the Gaza Strip, in preparation for launching a military operation there. In a statement, the Israeli army asked the residents and displaced people in the Al-Shoka municipality area and the neighborhoods of Al-Salam, Al-Jeneina, Tabbat Ziraa, and Al-Byouk to leave immediately and head towards what it called the “expanded humanitarian zone” in Al-Mawasi, an area on the coast extending between Rafah and Khan Yunis.
The Israeli Broadcasting Authority also said that the army began deporting residents from the eastern areas of Rafah this morning as part of preparations for a military operation, adding that the army dropped leaflets calling on residents there to leave their homes and head to the “expanded humanitarian zone.”
For its part, Israeli Army Radio reported that the decision to begin evacuating Rafah was taken last night in a cabinet session. According to the occupation army, the evacuation process includes about 100,000 Palestinians living in the eastern neighborhoods of Rafah. Reuters quoted witnesses as saying that some families had already begun to flee from the eastern region of Rafah.
Director of Al Jazeera’s office in Palestine, Walid Al-Omari, said that this development comes after the Israeli army had mobilized large forces on the borders of the southern Gaza Strip, indicating that the occupation army is accelerating the military operation before the director of the US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), William Burns, arrives in Israel. . Yesterday, satellite images revealed that the Israeli army deployed about 300 Israeli military vehicles near the Rafah border.
With the start of the population transfer operations, Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich called on the Israeli army to invade Rafah immediately. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has repeatedly announced his determination to invade Rafah under the pretext of eliminating Hamas brigades in the region, despite American and international warnings about the humanitarian consequences of any military operation in the city, which shelters about 1.5 million displaced people.
Netanyahu stated on several occasions that his forces would enter Rafah, whether or not a prisoner exchange deal was reached. In exchange for the threats of Netanyahu and his ministers, the Palestinian resistance threatened the occupation that it would pay a heavy price if its forces penetrated Rafah. For its part, the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) warned today that the consequences of the Israeli attack on Rafah will be devastating for 1.4 million people, stressing that it will remain in the city to provide assistance that saves people’s lives.
Meanwhile, the Israeli army announced today the killing of a fourth soldier in a rocket attack by the Palestinian resistance that yesterday targeted a military base in the vicinity of the Kerem Shalom crossing, east of Rafah. Before that, it had announced the killing of 3 of its soldiers from the Givati and Nahal brigades and the wounding of 12 others, including 3 in serious condition. Thus, the number of Israeli soldiers killed since Operation Al-Aqsa Flood and the war on Gaza on October 7 last year has risen to 612, including 275 officers and soldiers since the start of the ground operation on the 26th of the same month, and to 101 officers and soldiers since the beginning of this year.
Israeli Army Radio revealed that the missile attack that targeted an army position in the Kerem Shalom area included the firing of 14 missiles, and that two PGM-guided missiles caused fatal wounds to the soldiers, noting that the injured soldiers were on a security mission to guard equipment and machinery. I prepared to enter the city of Rafah.
Israeli Army Radio also said that an investigation was opened to find out the reasons that prevented the launching of interceptor missiles and the presence of many casualties despite the reduction in the number of soldiers at the site, adding that other missiles fell on Camp Amitai and a house in the Kerem Shalom settlement and caused serious damage, but no casualties were reported. Yesterday, the Al-Qassam Brigades, the military wing of the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas), broadcast images that it said showed the Israeli army headquarters and its gatherings being targeted inside the Kerem Shalom military site, east of the city of Rafah, with a “Rajum” missile launcher, leaving the occupation soldiers dead and wounded. Shortly after the Qassam missile attack, Israeli aircraft launched raids targeting 11 homes in Rafah, resulting in the death of 21 Palestinians, including children.
