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.
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 called on residents from other areas of Rafah to evacuate and go to the “expanded humanitarian area” in al-Mawasi.
Army spokesman Avichay Adraee told Palestinians living in Jabaliya, Beit Lahiya, and surrounding areas to flee 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 claimed it had dismantled the militant group in the area late last year.
But fighting flared again this week in the Zeitoun district, located in the northern part of Gaza.
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.
Saturday’s strikes on Gaza came despite international opposition and US President Joe Biden threatening to halt shipments of weapons to Israel if Netanyahu proceeded with a major invasion of Rafah.
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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