Index – Abroad – Israel is once again preparing to attack the city of Rafah

The Israeli army is continuing its preparations to attack the city of Rafah at the southern end of the Palestinian-populated Gaza Strip, near the Egyptian border, according to a statement by Israeli government officials on Wednesday. According to reports, the war cabinet will meet in the next two weeks and is expected to authorize the evacuation of Palestinian civilians from Rafah to Han-Junis, expected to last for a month.

After negotiating with the United States for weeks about the safety of more than one million Palestinian civilians who had previously been evacuated from the northern part of the Gaza Strip to Rafah, the Israeli Ministry of Defense bought forty thousand tents, each capable of housing ten to twelve people, for the Palestinians who intended to be evacuated from Rafah, according to MTI. In the video, which was also distributed on the Internet, square white tents are lined up five kilometers north of Rafah, near the town of Hán-Júnisz.

The Israeli army has mobilized and deployed two reserve brigades to Gaza to secure the corridor in the middle of the strip and the port set up to receive US humanitarian aid, and their arrival freed up the soldiers who had been stationed there for Rafah duties.

The Israeli-controlled corridor in the middle of the zone allows the army to conduct raids in the north and center, and allows Israel to control the return of Palestinians evacuated to the south to the north.

Rafah could be the key

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has stated on numerous occasions that he believes that Israel can only win the conflict in Gaza, which escalated following the terrorist attack of the Palestinian extremist organization Hamas on October 7, if they capture Rafah, defeat the four Hamas battalions there, and free the prisoners held there on October 7. dragged the Israeli hostages into the zone. According to Israel, Rafah is home to many Hamas leaders and soldiers, as well as the 129 Israeli hostages. Two more Hamas battalions also operate in refugee camps in the central part of the zone.

The United States has repeatedly warned Israeli leaders that the attack on Rafah could exacerbate the already serious humanitarian crisis among the Palestinians because of the civilians who fled there. Egypt also warned Israel against entering this city. This step would lead to “mass slaughter of people, casualties and significant destruction,” Egyptian security officials stressed.

Follow Index on Facebook too!

I’m following you!