Signs of new missions
Israel: Gaza City residents are told to flee
February 20, 2024, 12:10 p.m
The EU and USA are trying to bring about a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip. But in addition to the expected ground offensive in Rafah, another operation in Gaza City could also be imminent. The Israeli army is asking residents of two neighborhoods to leave. Meanwhile, Hamas leader Haniyeh is in Cairo.
The Israeli army has urged residents of two neighborhoods in Gaza city to flee. The call, issued in Arabic by an Israeli military spokesman, urged residents of the Al-Saitun and Al-Turkman neighborhoods to immediately move to a designated area further south on the Mediterranean. This was seen as a sign of impending new Israeli military operations in the neighborhoods.
Meanwhile, Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh has arrived in Cairo for talks with representatives of the Egyptian leadership about the situation in the Gaza war. This is reported by the militant Islamist Palestinian organization. Hanijeh, who has not been in the Gaza Strip for a long time, has recently been to the Egyptian capital repeatedly for talks.
For several weeks, Egypt has been trying, together with Qatar, to broker a new ceasefire between Israel and Hamas as well as the release of the hostages from Islamist violence. Israel and Hamas blame each other for the stalled negotiations.
According to UN figures, up to 1.7 million of the more than 2.2 million residents of the Gaza Strip have had to leave their homes since the war began on October 7th. According to information, around 1.5 million people are crowding into the city of Rafah alone on the border with Egypt. Residents of the narrow coastal strip often had to flee several times. There was also shelling in areas that had been classified as safe.
Residents have to flee again
In recent months, residents of the northern Gaza Strip have repeatedly been called upon to evacuate their homes because they have become combat zones. The Israeli offensive caused devastating destruction there. Some residents returned to their homes, although the Israeli army tried to prevent this.
The war was triggered by the worst massacre in Israel’s history, carried out by terrorists from Hamas and other extremist Palestinian organizations on October 7th in Israel near the border with the Gaza Strip. They murdered more than 1,200 people and abducted 250 others to the coastal strip. Around 105 hostages were released as part of a prisoner exchange in November. The aim of the Israeli offensive is to destroy the Islamist terrorist organization Hamas and to free the remaining hostages, of which, according to Israeli information, at most around 100 are still alive.