For many Palestinians, Rafah is the last refuge. 1.5 million people have packed into the city, for whom a land attack would be a disaster.
10:43•Updated 11:22
Professor of Middle Eastern Studies at the University of Helsinki Hannu Juusola assessed in the morning that at the moment it seems that Israel is about to carry out at most a limited attack on Gaza’s Rafah. A large-scale attack would hardly be out of the question.
Juusola sums up Israel’s internal political pressures and, on the other hand, the growing international pressure not to attack.
– I would bet that Israel will make some degree of attack on Rafah, i.e. also a ground attack, so that the prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu can underline that we did it. The problem is that it will in no way lead to the military destruction of Hamas. It can also be blamed afterwards that the attack was pointless.
Israel may think that now is, in a certain way, the last chance to make a ground attack on Rafah, he estimates Laura Hendry, who is an expert at the conflict resolution organization CMI. He also believes that Israel will carry out a limited attack.
– After that, they can say that what was promised has now been done.
On the other hand, the international community has pleaded in serious terms not to attack Rafah. Israel already carried out airstrikes at night.
– For example, the president Biden has said that this is a kind of red line for them, a CMI expert reminds.
Rafah is the last refuge for many Gazans
For Gazans, the city of Rafah has been the last refuge in the middle of the war between Israel and the extremist organization Hamas.
Already at the beginning of the year, experts estimated that a ground attack on the city would be a disaster.
1.5 million Palestinians have packed into Rafah and its surroundings. A large number of them have fled to the city from other parts of Gaza. Before the hostilities that started in October, Rafah was home to around 270,000 people.