The ground and airstrikes on Rafah have intensified the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas. The recent incident in Rafah stems from Israel’s order for refugees to evacuate to Al-Mawashi in western Gaza, reportedly to clear the path for a major offensive against Hamas.
The offensive in Rafah has raised tensions and increased the likelihood of further bloodshed. It also complicates efforts to find a diplomatic solution to the conflict.
The international community is calling for an end to the hostilities and a resumption of negotiations to address the underlying causes of the violence.
In a post on social media site X, a military spokesperson also called on residents and displaced people in the Jabalia area of northern Gaza, and 11 other neighborhoods in the enclave to go immediately to places west of Gaza City.
The Israeli military orders Palestinians to further evacuate eastern Rafah as it intensifies its assault on the area in southern Gaza.
Health Ministry in Gaza says it has uncovered 80 bodies from three mass graves inside a section of the al-Shifa Hospital complex in Gaza City.
The Palestinian health ministry said at least 37 Palestinians, 24 of them from central Gaza areas, were killed in overnight airstrikes across the enclave, including in Rafah.
“They threw fliers on Rafah and said, from Rafah to al-Zawayda is safe, people should evacuate there, and they did, and what has become of them? Dismembered bodies? There is no safe place in Gaza,” Khitam Al-Khatib, who said she had lost at least 10 of her relatives in an airstrike on a family house earlier on Saturday”
US State Department report says Israel’s use of US-provided weapons in Gaza likely violated international humanitarian law, but Washington will continue to supply arms to Israel for now.
The UN says more than 80,000 people have fled Rafah since Monday after Israel warned people to evacuate ahead of a planned major offensive
Last week, President Joe Biden warned that the US would stop supplying some weapons if Israel launches a major ground operation in Rafah.
At least 34,971 people have been killed and 78,641 wounded in Israeli attacks on Gaza since October 7. The revised death toll in Israel from Hamas’s October 7 attacks stands at 1,139 with dozens of people still held captive.
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