Avoid densely populated areas
Israeli army wants to continue operations in Rafah
May 12, 2024, 2:04 a.m
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Israel is currently being criticized by aid organizations and many politicians for its operations in the city of Rafah. Joe Biden is even threatening to restrict arms deliveries. Nevertheless, the Israeli army intends to continue its advances in the city in the southern Gaza Strip.
The Israeli army is continuing what it says are “precise” advances in the refugee-filled city of Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip. “Our operations against Hamas in Rafah remain limited and focused on tactical advances, tactical adjustments and military advantages and have avoided densely populated areas,” army spokesman Daniel Hagari said in a statement distributed on Sunday night.
On Saturday, the army called on the population to leave other areas in the east and, for the first time, in the center of the city. At the beginning of the week, Israel initially deployed ground troops in the eastern outskirts of Rafah. Since then, “dozens of terrorists have been eliminated,” underground terror tunnels have been uncovered and large quantities of weapons have been seized, said Hagari. Israel’s military actions in the part of the sealed-off coastal strip bordering Egypt are highly controversial internationally.
Supply could collapse
Until recently, more than a million people who had fled from other parts of the Gaza Strip were crowded there. It’s not just aid organizations that fear that an expansion of the Israeli offensive could lead to hundreds of thousands of civilians being caught between the fronts. The already precarious supply of people could collapse completely. The US, Israel’s most important ally, is warning urgently against a large-scale offensive.
US President Joe Biden recently even threatened to restrict arms deliveries to Israel. The Israeli army justifies the military action in Rafah, which was threatened months ago, by wanting to destroy the last Hamas battalions and destroy the smuggling tunnels suspected to be under the border with Egypt. The aim of the “precise” operation was to achieve a “permanent defeat of Hamas” and bring back all the hostages, said Hagari. He emphasized that Israel is waging war against Hamas, “not against the people of Gaza.”