Israeli defense minister Yoav Gallant has said military action in Rafah is required due to Hamas’ refusal for a Gaza truce under which the Palestinian Islamist group would free some hostages. On Sunday, in a televised address, prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu once more rejected Hamas’s demands for a definitive end to the war in Gaza.
Associated Press notes that about 1.4 million Palestinians – more than half of Gaza’s population – are jammed into Rafah and its surroundings. Most of them fled their homes elsewhere in the territory to escape Israel’s onslaught and now face another move.
They live in densely packed tent camps, overflowing U.N. shelters or crowded apartments, and are dependent on international aid for food, with sanitation systems and medical facilities infrastructure crippled. Israel has repeatedly bombed the Rafah area, and has also previously bombed the area it is now ordering Palestinians to flee to.
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