More than half of Gaza’s more than two million residents have moved to Rafah at Israel’s urging. Israel is now planning a ground attack on the area.
Israel’s nighttime airstrike on the southern Gaza city of Rafah has claimed the lives of 67 people and wounded dozens, the Gaza Ministry of Health, which operates under the terrorist organization Hamas, announced on Monday.
A reporter from the AP news agency reports from the scene that dead people, including children, have been brought to Rafah’s Abu Youssef al-Najjar hospital.
According to the Hamas administration, the attacks have hit more than ten houses and three mosques. A joint operation between the Israeli criminal forces and the Shin Bet security service.
Two hostages in Rafah were released early today in a joint operation between the Israeli army and the intelligence service. The hostages are Fernando Simon Marman60, and Louis Har70. They had been abducted from the Nir Yitzhak kibbutz on October 7.
According to Israel, the men are in good physical condition and have been sent to the hospital for examinations.
In recent days, Israel has threatened to launch a large-scale ground attack on the region. Aid organizations have warned that a possible ground attack on Rafah in southern Gaza would lead to a humanitarian disaster.
An estimated more than a million Palestinians have fled to the city. The United States has also announced that it does not support the attack.
Netanyahu: The military operation will continue because it will allow the hostages to be released
Prime Minister of Israel Benjamin Netanyahu according to the press release, the country’s army will continue the military operation in Gaza.
According to a statement published by the Prime Minister’s office, only “continuous military pressure until complete victory can lead to the release of all hostages.”
Netanyahu ordered on Friday that the army must draw up a plan to evacuate civilians who have sought refuge from the war in Rafah and southern Gaza and eliminate any remaining Hamas fighters in the area.