Egypt already informed
Israel prepares to attack Rafah
February 2, 2024, 4:32 a.m
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The Rafah border crossing in the far south of the Gaza Strip is controlled by Egypt and Hamas. Although 1.3 million refugees are now crowding there, Israel’s army is apparently already planning an operation. Cairo is said to already be in the picture.
According to a media report, the Israeli army wants to expand its fighting against the Islamist Hamas into the southernmost part of the Gaza Strip. The military will also reach and dismantle the Hamas brigade in Rafah, as is currently being done with the Hamas battalions in the area of the southern city of Khan Yunis, the Times of Israel quoted Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Galant as saying. More than 1.3 million people are now said to be living in Rafah and the surrounding area – more than half of the approximately 2.2 million inhabitants of the Gaza Strip.
They are looking for protection there from the fighting. Nearly four months after Hamas’ terrorist attack on southern Israel on October 7 that left 1,200 dead, Israeli ground troops have moved deep into the Gaza Strip to crush Hamas. The southern end of the sealed-off coastal area, which borders Egypt with the divided city of Rafah and the border crossing of the same name, is so far out of reach of ground troops.
Hamas controls Rafah border crossing
The Hamas brigade in Khan Yunis is collapsing, Galant said on Wednesday during a visit to the troops in the city, the newspaper reported. Khan Yunis is considered a Hamas stronghold. Galant was quoted as saying that they would complete the operation there and also reach Rafah in order to “eliminate any terrorists who are trying to harm us.” The Wall Street Journal reported three weeks ago, citing unnamed Israeli and Egyptian sources, that Israeli officials had informed Egypt of a planned military operation along the Gaza side of the border.
The Rafah border crossing is controlled by Egyptian and Palestinian officials, with the latter being under the control of Hamas. This is a thorn in the side of the Israeli leadership. She suspects that tunnels running under the Egypt-Gaza border are still used to smuggle goods and weapons for Hamas. During a recent visit by Federal Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock to Egypt, the UN emergency relief office OCHA urgently warned against an expansion of the fighting there. People have nowhere else to go and need to be protected.