Hamas: Israeli order to evacuate Rafah is a ‘dangerous escalation that will have consequences’
A senior Hamas official has said the Israeli order for civilians to evacuate Rafah is a “dangerous escalation that will have consequences”.
Sami Abu Zuhri made the comments to Reuters on Monday.
Israel’s military has issued a call for residents and displaced people to evacuate eastern neighbourhoods of Rafah and head to what it claimed was an “expanded humanitarian zone” in southern Gaza. The IDF said the operation was of “limited scope” and estimated it would need to move about 100,000 people.
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said in a statement that it was making the call to evacuate through “announcements, text messages, phone calls and media broadcasts in Arabic”. Israel’s army said on social media that it would act with “extreme force” against militants.
Israeli defense minister Yoav Gallant has said military action in Rafah is required due to Hamas’ refusal for a Gaza truce under which the Palestinian Islamist group would free some hostages. On Sunday, in a televised address, prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu once more rejected Hamas’s demands for a definitive end to the war in Gaza.
Associated Press notes that about 1.4 million Palestinians – more than half of Gaza’s population – are jammed into Rafah and its surroundings. Most of them fled their homes elsewhere in the territory to escape Israel’s onslaught and now face another move.
They live in densely packed tent camps, overflowing U.N. shelters or crowded apartments, and are dependent on international aid for food, with sanitation systems and medical facilities infrastructure crippled. Israel has repeatedly bombed the Rafah area, and has also previously bombed the area it is now ordering Palestinians to flee to.
Key events
Germany’s foreign minister Annalena Baerbock has criticised Hamas for a rocket attack near the Kerem Shalom crossing at the weekend which killed four Israeli soldiers.
AFP reports that speaking to the media during a visit to Fiji on Monday, Baerbock said “The shelling of one of the most important access points for humanitarian aid shows once again that the terrorists of Hamas do not care about the humanitarian needs of the people in Gaza.”
The EU’s top diplomat Josep Borrell has called on Israel to “renounce” the idea of a ground offensive on Rafah.
In a post on social media he called on both sides to implement UN security council resolution 2728, which demanded “an immediate ceasefire … by all parties leading to a lasting sustainable ceasefire” and also called for “the immediate and unconditional release of all hostages” and “the lifting of all barriers to the provision of humanitarian assistance at scale”.
Reuters has a quick snap that Egypt has raised its military’s level of preparedness in northern Sinai, which borders the Gaza Strip.
In the UK, shadow foreign secretary David Lammy of the opposition Labour party has said a Rafah offensive “must not go ahead”.
In a message posted to social media, the man widely expected to replace David Cameron as foreign secretary after the next election in the UK later this year, said:
An Israeli offensive in Rafah would be catastrophic. It must not go ahead. We need an immediate ceasefire, the immediate release of hostages, and immediate unimpeded aid to Gaza.
Unrwa’s Lazzarini: Rafah offensive will make it ‘even more difficult to reverse expansion of man-made famine’ in Gaza
Philippe Lazzarini, the commissioner-general of the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, Unrwa, has added to the organisation’s earlier message that it would not be evacuating Rafah. In a post to social media, he said:
An Israeli military offensive will lead to an additional layer of an already unbearable tragedy for the people in Gaza. It will make even more difficult to reverse the expansion of the already man-made famine.
What is needed is a ceasefire now, not new forced displacement and anxiety of endless suffering. Together with our partners, we will stay and deliver critical assistance in Rafah as long as possible.
Here are some more images sent to us over the news wires from Rafah in the south of Gaza, showing Palestinians fleeing after Israel ordered an evacuation of the eastern part of the city in advance of an expected military assault.
Noga Weiss, who was one of the hostages seized and abducted by Hamas on 7 October, then released in November last year as part of the ceasefire and hostage-release deal, has enlisted today in the IDF.
The Times of Israel quotes her saying:
I always wanted to enlist and dedicate myself to the country. The army for me is a combination of a distraction from what happened, a framework and a daily routine, but mainly carrying on with my life as it would have been even before all this happened.
I remember that the day my mother and I were released, they took us to Kerem Shalom, and there was a hangar full of soldiers. The presence of the soldiers made me feel safe and it only strengthened my desire to be a part of and serve in the army.
Weiss, who is 18, was kidnapped along with her mother, Shiri, from kibbutz Be’eri. Her father was killed on 7 October. She is enlisting as a mashakit tash, which Israel’s military describes as “similar to a social worker’s job”.
Palestinians in Gaza, many of whom had been previously displaced, were seen packing their belongings and leaving Rafah after an Israeli evacuation order. The Israeli army reiterated its commitment to enter the southern city where more than 1 million people from other parts of the Gaza Strip have been seeking refuge. Here is a video report.
Care International UK has called on the UK government to act urgently to prevent an extension of Israel’s military action in Rafah.
Humanitarian advocacy adviser Madeleine McGovern said “A large-scale military offensive in Rafah presents a significant risk of serious harm to families and communities. There is simply nowhere safe to go in Gaza and international law is clear. Civilians in Rafah, already exhausted and starving, must be protected.
“Ministers cannot delay any longer before suspending licenses for arms sales to Israel. It would be unconscionable for British made weapons to be used in an assault on Rafah.”
The agency also distributed a quote from a mother in Rafah that it was working with. She said:
We are so worried about Rafah and the news that we are hearing from outside. There are a lot of planes in the sky. We need it the world to stop the war immediately because if they attack Rafah it will be a disaster. It will kill a lot of people. You can’t imagine how this area is crowded. It is crowded with thousands and thousand of tents. There is no way to go to Khan Younis. Khan Younis was totally damaged, there is no safe place.
Germany: Israel banning Al Jazeera sends ‘wrong signal’
Germany has criticised Benjamin Netanyahu’s government for its decision to ban Al Jazeera in Israel. In a post on social media, the German foreing ministry said:
A free and diverse press landscape is the cornerstone of every liberal democracy. In times of conflict especially, it is of crucial importance to protect the freedom of the press. The decision of the Israeli authorities to shut down Al Jazeera in Israel is the wrong signal.
Israeli officials have claimed the move was justified because Al Jazeera was a threat to national security. A government statement said Israel’s communications minister had signed orders to act immediately to close al Jazeera’s offices in Israel, confiscate broadcast equipment, cut the channel off from cable and satellite companies and block its websites.
Hebrew media outlet Ynet has a quote from what it says is a senior Israeli official, saying Hamas could still cut a deal and avoid what appears to be the imminent Israeli ground offensive in Rafah. It quotes them saying “Everything is reversible. If Hamas agrees to a deal, it can be stopped.”
Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu has laid a wreath in the Hall of Remembrance at Yad Vashem, the World Holocaust Remembrance Centre, in Jerusalem to mark Holocaust Remembrance Day.
Israel’s military has claimed that it struck at “15 military structures and terror infrastructure located in a military compound belonging to Hezbollah’s Radwan force in the area of Al-Lwaiza” inside southern Lebanon.
It also claims that “a UAV was identified crossing from Lebanon into the area of Metula in northern Israel”.
The claims have not been independently verified.
Reuters has spoken to another Palestinian in Rafah, Aminah Adwan. She told the news agency:
We have been awake since 2am because of the bombardment, and we woke up in the morning to find rain pouring, we drowned in the rain, our clothes and items as well – we are out on the streets. We also woke up to much worse news, to evacuate Rafah.
The biggest genocide will take place, the biggest catastrophe will take place in Rafah. I call on the whole Arab world to interfere for a ceasefire – let them interfere and save us from what we are in. We are tired and over this.
Egypt’s state-affiliated Al Qahera news TV on Monday quoted an unnamed “high-level” source as saying that Hamas’s attack on Gaza’s Kerem Shalom crossing had caused an impasse in ceasefire talks, Reuters reports.
The Egyptian negotiators are intensifying talks to contain the current escalation between Israel and Hamas, the source said according to the channel.
Haaretz reports that the IDF has released the name of the fourth Israeli soldier killed in Sunday’s Hamas rocket barrage which landed near the Kerem Shalom crossing.
It writes:
The army said that ten launches were detected in the barrage, which was aimed at two positions where the soldiers were stationed. According to the announcement, the forces were stationed there to guard vehicles and military equipment intended to be used in case the army decided to enter Rafah.
ActionAid in the UK has described the Israeli plan to evacuate Palestinians out of Rafah before launching a ground offensive as an “unlawful” act that will lead to “catastrophic consequences”.
In a statement it said:
Our aid workers are reporting some of the most severe conditions in recent memory with widespread disease, starvation and chaos. Let us be clear, there are no safe zones in Gaza.
The international community must act swiftly to prevent further atrocities and hold themselves as well as the Israeli government to account – if an invasion of Rafah is your ‘red line’ will you do everything possible to stop this imminent attack?
Islamic Relief has also issued a statement, saying it is “appalled” and that the development will “put many lives at even greater risk”.
Noting that “heavy bombing in Rafah overnight has reportedly killed many civilians, including several children”, it said:
As we have seen over the past seven months, forcing so many people to move is impossible without serious humanitarian cost and people will inevitably die as a result of the evacuation. The sick and wounded, elderly people, newborn infants and people with disabilities are particularly vulnerable and often cannot evacuate without support.
The area where people have been ordered to move – al Mawasi – has been designated a so-called ‘safe humanitarian zone’ but it is not safe. Civilians sheltering there say they continue to face attacks and severe shortages of food, water and other vital aid. Forcing more people there will make the humanitarian crisis even worse.