The wounded flocked by dozens to the Kuwaiti Rafah hospital in the early morning of Monday February 12, most of them unconscious, bloodied, sometimes haggard, after some of the most violent bombings which hit the area, a crossing point from Gaza to the Egypt, since the start of the war, October 7, 2023.
Israeli security services announced they had freed two hostages kidnapped by Hamas fighters during an operation overnight from Sunday to Monday. “Fernando Simon Marman, 60, and Louis Har, 70, were recovered during a night operation in Rafah carried out jointly by the army, the Shin Beth [la sécurité intérieure] and the Israeli police », said a statement from the Israeli authorities. This is the second time that the Jewish state has managed to free hostages through an assault, outside of negotiations.
Previously, a series of airstrikes on the Palestinian city left at least 63 dead, according to local health authorities, during bombings that hit fourteen houses and three mosques in different areas of Rafah. The Israeli army said in a statement that it had “carried out a series of raids against terrorist targets in the southern Gaza Strip”, while the area lives in fear of a land offensive.
A coming “humanitarian catastrophe”
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu persisted on Sunday in his desire to launch a military offensive against the city. Rafah, which has become a gigantic encampment, is the last urban center where the Israeli army has not yet penetrated.
“Victory is within reach. We will get there “affirmed Mr. Netanyahu in an interview with the ABC News channel broadcast on Sunday, calling the Palestinian city a “last bastion” of the Islamist movement. Israel will ensure “a secure passage for the civilian population so that they can leave” the city, he added, without specifying where civilians could take refuge in the event of an attack. More than 85% of Gazans’ 2.3 million people have been displaced and most are crowded along the Egyptian border.
These threats worry the international community, including the United States, Israel’s main ally. US President Joe Biden urged Israel’s prime minister in a telephone interview on Sunday to “guarantee security” of the Palestinian population, while several States have warned of a “humanitarian catastrophe” to come in the event of an assault on the overpopulated city.
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