Palestinian civilians told to evacuate eastern Rafah by the Israeli military have described their fear and despair at being uprooted from their homes and shelters, as Israel airstrikes hit Gaza\u2019s southernmost city. <\/p>\n
There were hopes that the Rafah offensive would not go ahead after Hamas accepted a ceasefire proposal on Monday, but those were quickly dashed after Israel said the terms were \u201cfar from Israel\u2019s necessary requirements\u201d and it would continue \u201cin order to exert military pressure\u201d on the militant group. <\/p>\n
By Tuesday morning, Israeli airstrikes on Rafah had killed 23 people, including a child, according to hospital officials in southern Gaza. <\/p>\n
The Israeli military said it had \u201coperational control\u201d of the Gazan side of the Rafah crossing, a vital entry point to transport desperately needed aid into the enclave from its southern border with Egypt. <\/p>\n
Hamas said the Israeli military\u2019s move on Rafah constituted a \u201chumanitarian catastrophe\u201d that posed \u201ca direct threat to more than 1.5 million displaced Palestinians.\u201d <\/p>\n
\u201c(They) are striking everywhere without differentiating between children, adults, militants or non-militants. I left my house that I have been building for 17 years,\u201d he added. <\/p>\n
Ghanem and his wife were pushing strollers piled high with belongings. \u201cWe no longer have a home. We are heading to Mawasi because there is no safety with the Israelis. They are killing women and children.\u201d <\/p>\n
Another woman from eastern Rafah said, \u201cThe Israelis sent us messages ordering us to leave. We cannot stay.\u201d <\/p>\n
Earlier Monday, the Israeli military called on an estimated 100,000 Palestinians living in parts of eastern Rafah to \u201cevacuate immediately,\u201d telling them to move to Al-Mawasi, a coastal town near the city of Khan Younis that aid groups say is not appropriate for habitation. <\/p>\n
The current war began on October 7 when Hamas militants killed more than 1,200 people in southern Israel and took more than 200 people hostage. <\/p>\n
In the almost seven months since, Israel\u2019s military bombardment of Gaza has killed more than 34,600 people, according to the Gaza health ministry, and driven more than 1 million Palestinians to seek refuge in Rafah, a city that the medical NGO Medicines San Frontieres said was absent of the \u201cnecessary conditions for survival.\u201d <\/p>\n
The move was described as \u201cinhumane\u201d by United Nations human rights chief Volker T\u00fcrk and \u201cbeyond alarming\u201d by the Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC). <\/p>\n
Faisal Barbakh, who fled on his bicycle, said he is leaving a lifetime of memories behind \u201cfor the unknown.\u201d <\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m carrying all of my life here. My family is torn in seven places. I feel it\u2019s the end of life. I can\u2019t think anymore. I left 59 years of life behind, all of my memories, my children\u2019s pictures, the contract of my house.\u201d <\/p>\n
Video and images from eastern Rafah showed trucks full of people\u2019s belongings driving through the streets, which became increasingly crowded as Monday wore on. Children were seen sitting among tanks of fuel and plastic bags filled with possessions, and families left with mattresses strapped to the roof of their cars. <\/p>\n
Many of those leaving eastern Rafah have been previously displaced multiple times as Israel\u2019s focus has moved from city to city. <\/p>\n
After the Israeli military stormed the Rafah crossing, Palestinian flags were replaced with Israeli flags, which according to photos on social media, could be seen mounted outside the main building. <\/p>\n
The border crossing has been a key humanitarian aid portal, with as many as 300 trucks entering the strip through it each day, according to an announcement from Egypt last month. <\/p>\n
Gaza\u2019s Ministry of Interior and National Security warned that Rafah\u2019s closure \u201cexacerbates the humanitarian crisis\u201d and \u201crepresents a policy of collective punishment against more than 2 million people.\u201d <\/p>\n
The ministry described the crossing as \u201ca main lifeline for citizens in the Gaza strip\u201d which \u201cdoes not represent any threat to the Israeli occupation.\u201d <\/p>\n
Aid groups quickly expressed concern that the Israeli operation there could bring humanitarian relief efforts across the Gaza Strip to a standstill. <\/p>\n
\u201cContinued interruption of the entry of aid and fuel supplies at the Rafah crossing will halt the critical humanitarian response across the Gaza Strip,\u201d the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) said on X. <\/p>\n
It added that the \u201ccatastrophic hunger faced by people especially in northern Gaza will get much worse if these supply routes are interrupted.\u201d <\/p>\n
In recent months, Israeli strikes have further deteriorated conditions for those living and sheltering in the city, including an estimated 600,000 children. Malnutrition is rapidly spreading and medical facilities are \u201crendered ineffective by the Israeli authorities\u2019 siege,\u201d Medicines San Frontieres said. <\/p>\n
Two boys, Malek and Yousef, were making their own way of Rafah out on bicycles Monday, clinging to their bags. \u201cWe are running away from the Israelis. They warned us and ordered us to evacuate the eastern area. I have my clothes and food in the bag. We are going to our grandparents\u2019 house,\u201d one said. <\/p>\n
There has been a chorus of condemnation over the situation facing many in Rafah and other places in the strip after Israel ignored international calls against proceeding with the operation. <\/p>\n
The European Union\u2019s foreign policy chief Josep Borrell warned Tuesday that there were \u201cno \u2018safe zones\u2019 in Gaza\u201d after criticizing Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. <\/p>\n
\u201cThe land offensive against Rafah has started again, in spite of all of the requests of the international community \u2013 the US, the European Union member states \u2013 everybody asking Netanyahu not to attack Rafah,\u201d Borrell said, adding: \u201cI am afraid that this is going to cause again a lot of casualties, civilian casualties.\u201d <\/p>\n
\u201cYesterday, we saw thousands of people moving away from their homes or their camps in southeastern Rafah, many on foot, many using vehicles, using donkey carts, but there is a shortage of fuel. And not only there is no safe place to go, for many people, there\u2019s no way to get there,\u201d van Meegen said in a phone interview from Rafah. <\/p>\n
For those that are able to travel the many kilometers to the coastal town near Khan Younis, they arrive to find it already crowded with displaced people, some of the new arrivals appearing confused and disorientated. The streets were packed with trucks and donkey carts, surrounded by huge piles of garbage. <\/p>\n
\u201cI came here from Rafah and didn\u2019t find any place to stay. People even say we should leave [here]. I swear, I don\u2019t know where to go. They distributed leaflets, and people panicked and started running away,\u201d said Mohammad Abu Khamash. <\/p>\n
UNRWA previously warned that Al-Mawasi is not appropriate for habitation. <\/p>\n
Many of those fleeing on Monday said there is nowhere safe for them and their families. <\/p>\n
\u201cWe had to endure airstrikes that put our lives and our children\u2019s lives at risk. We left in search of a bit of dignified life that we can live with our families,\u201d said Ahmad Safi, who left Rafah for Khan Younis with his family. <\/p>\n
Safi said he searched for water every day and that \u201cthere is no safety anywhere.\u201d <\/p>\n
He continued, \u201cThere is no life. It is very complicated. I came to Khan Younis and I felt so depressed. It was a city full of life and happiness, but now it is not even suitable for living. We are eight family members. We came on a cart from Rafah. I am still in shock that we left Rafah.\u201d <\/p>\n
Rafah resident Abu Salah said he had left the city under heavy Israeli fire. <\/p>\n
\u201cIs safety being displaced from place to place like a cat with its children, begging for a bit of water and a coupon (for food)?\u201d he said. <\/p>\n
A woman called Maha said Palestinian civilians were at the mercy of the Israeli military. <\/p>\n
\u201cThey can tell you to go here and kill you here, or they tell you to go there and they kill you there. They don\u2019t want safety for us,\u201d she said. <\/p>\n
\u201cThe solution is to finish this cause, not only to stop the war, but to have a Palestinian state,\u201d she added. <\/p>\n
This story has been updated with additional details.<\/em> <\/p>\n<\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Palestinian civilians told to evacuate eastern Rafah by the Israeli military have described their fear…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3118,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[23],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3117","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-world"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailywashingtoninsider.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3117","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailywashingtoninsider.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailywashingtoninsider.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailywashingtoninsider.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailywashingtoninsider.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3117"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dailywashingtoninsider.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3117\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailywashingtoninsider.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3118"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailywashingtoninsider.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3117"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailywashingtoninsider.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3117"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailywashingtoninsider.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3117"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}