The threat of an Israeli attack in the October 7 attack on Rafah: a senior Egyptian official says there’s no evidence of tunnels
Egypt is worried that an Israeli assault on Rafah could cause a displacement of Palestinians. Egyptian President Abdel Fattaha el-Sisi said that this could cause Egypt to become involved in the war and make a mass exodus of Gazans impossible.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu approved the military’s plan for an attack on Rafah last month, but there’s still no publicly announced time frame for an assault.
A mass evacuation of Palestinians from Rafah could take weeks, and there’s no confirmation these tents are being set up for that purpose. The Israeli military wouldn’t comment when asked about the new tents that are on satellite imagery.
Israel says an offensive is necessary to eliminate Hamas and free the remaining 133 hostages taken captive in the Oct. 7 attack, most of whom are believed to be alive. In an operation that killed more than 60 Palestinians, Israel freed two hostages from Rafah earlier this year.
He is in an apartment with many other people. He said there are elderly and sick people among them. He said that relocating to a tent is difficult because his wife is still breastfeeding and needs some privacy. A potential offensive is one of the scariest things for us.
But with those talks at an impasse now for weeks, there’s growing worry in Rafah of an impending assault. There is a deep apprehension in the south about a military offensive which seems to be back on the table, said Philippe Lazzarini, head of the UN relief agency for Palestinians.
A senior Egyptian official told NPR that Israeli intelligence officials have indicated five areas in Rafah where they say tunnels and militant hideouts are present. The official spoke on the sensitive nature of the discussions. The official denied Israeli claims that there were tunnels in those areas.
“Hamas should know that when the IDF [Israel Defense Forces] goes into Rafah, it would do best to raise its hands in surrender. The Rafah of today will not be the same as the one of today. Gen. Itzik Cohen told Israeli public broadcaster Kan on Tuesday, adding that the city would be free of arms and hostages.
The U.S.’s Special Envoy to Gaza XI. The War in Gaza, and the Status of the United Nations, the UN Security Council and the Association of International Development Agencies
Multiple officials with knowledge of the discussions have expressed worry about the possibility of a high death toll among Palestinian civilians as Israel targets areas with suspected tunnels.
The US has pressed Israel to find alternate ways of resolving the situation in Rafah, according to a special envoy.
“We think there are other ways to deal with this. We can’t support a ground operation if there isn’t a credible humanitarian plan.
For its part, Egypt issued a statement this week denying “any dealings with Israel” regarding Rafah, and it reiterated its strong opposition to an offensive in Gaza along Egypt’s border, saying it “will lead to massacres, massive human losses, and widespread destruction.”
Humanitarian groups and U.N. agencies have based their operations out of Rafah for much of the war. It’s the only exit point for people injured in Palestine who want to leave for treatment abroad or can’t afford visas. Aid workers and much of Gaza’s aid enters that way.
According to Hadid, the Norwegian Refugee Council does not currently have plans to evacuate. In the event that an offensive does begin, she said, “we would hope to stay and deliver to support the displaced population as much as possible and as safely as possible.”
Several humanitarian organizations had already suspended operations in Gaza this month after an Israeli airstrike on a World Central Kitchen aid convoy killed seven of the organization’s workers.
A majority of organizations working in Rafah have contingency plans for an evacuation. But those plans cannot be fully effective without more credible information from Israel, said Joseph Kelly, the director of the Association of International Development Agencies, an organization that coordinates with aid groups working in Gaza.
“To the best of their ability, they’re stockpiling aid. They’re looking at certain locations [north of Rafah] such as Al-Mawasi, Deir al-Balah and parts of Khan Younis where there’s some level of structural integrity to serve people that would eventually be pushed there,” he said.
Kelly said that the agency COGAT has said it will notify aid groups in a reasonable amount of time, but it has not specified when that warning will come.
The Israeli Campaign for Human Rights and Freedom: The Gaza Strip Crisis in the Light of Israeli Counterattacks and Israeli Attacks, and a Model for Gaza City
Israel’s military hailed the raid on Gaza City’s Al-Shifa hospital as a model, in which 200 people were killed. The civil defense says hundreds of people are still being recovered in the city, many of which are civilians who perished in the fighting.
After living in Gaza City, Hadi Al-Sayyed moved with his family to an empty storefront in Rafah and says people are dying there as well.
If they tell us to go anywhere, we will go, but only if they give us a place to live and provide water and food, and then they will tell us’survive’.
Al-Sayyed said people’s patience had run out. He says Palestinians may try to get to Egypt or return to their homes in Gaza City because Israeli tanks have cut off access to the area.
Reporting by Becky Sullivan in Tel Aviv, Israel; Aya Batrawy in Dubai, United Arab Emirates; Anas Baba in Rafah, Gaza Strip; and Jane Arraf in Amman, Jordan. Additional reporting from Michele Kelemen and Itay Stern in Tel Aviv; Ahmed Abuhamda in Cairo; and Geoff Brumfiel in Washington, D.C.
More than 12,000 children have been killed in Gaza since October 7, according to the U.N. children’s fund. U.N. Women says, on average, two mothers have been killed per hour in Gaza since the start of the war.
Rami al-Sheikh, the baby’s uncle, and the girl whose mother died in an Israeli airstrike at the family’s Gaza Strip home
The baby’s uncle told The Associated Press that the girl, who was named Sabreen after her mother, was buried Thursday next to her father. She was 5 days old.
The day after the strike that killed the family, the baby’s uncle, Rami al-Sheikh, told cameras he was ready to care for her. He said in a Sky News report that he would look after her.
The baby’s mother, father, and toddler sister were all killed in the Israeli airstrike that hit the family’s home in Rafah.
The baby was pulled out of her dead mother’s body just as doctors could operate on her inside the main hospital structure, even though her mother was dead by the time she was there.
RAFAH, Gaza Strip — There had been a glimmer of hope in Rafah this past weekend, when medics were able to rescue a baby girl from her mother’s womb after airstrikes Saturday night killed her entire family.