Israel began on Monday, May 6, to evacuate 100,000 people from the east of the town of Rafah, in the south of the Gaza Strip, where the army is preparing a major offensive in its war against Hamas. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has been announcing for weeks an upcoming offensive on Rafah, which he presents as the last major bastion of the Islamist movement in the Palestinian territory.
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“ We have started a limited-scale operation to temporarily evacuate people residing in eastern Rafah “, an army spokesperson said on Monday, repeating: ” This is an operation of limited scale “.
He added that the number of people affected was “ around 100,000 (…) immediately “. Rafah, on the southern edge of the strip Gazaaccording to the UN, is home to 1.2 million Palestinians, or half of the territory’s population, most of them displaced people who fled the war further north.
Benyamin Netanyahu promised to launch this offensive whatever the outcome of the current discussions, through the mediator countries, to try to impose a truce associated with the release of hostages held in Gaza. New talks on Saturday and Sunday in Cairo were met with intransigence from both camps, with Hamas continuing to demand a definitive ceasefire whileIsrael promises to destroy the Islamist movement, author of an unprecedented attack on its soil on October 7, which triggered the war.
“ Fight Hamas »
Fearing a bloodbath among civilians, capitals and international organizations are opposing the announced operation on Rafah, which Israel claims is essential to wipe out the last battalions of Hamas.
On Monday, a Rafah resident told AFP that some had received voice messages on their phones inviting them to leave and text messages with a map telling them where to go. The army had previously announced “ encourage residents of eastern Rafah to move to expanded humanitarian areas », specifying that “ calls to temporarily move to the humanitarian zone would be relayed by leaflets, SMS, phone calls and messages in Arabic in the media “.
The army assured that it had “ expanded humanitarian zone in al-Mawasi “, about ten kilometers from Rafah, where ” field hospitals, tents and an increasing volume of food, water, medicine and other “. “ This evacuation plan aims to keep civilians away from danger “, declared the army spokesperson, ” our goal is to fight Hamas, not the people of Gaza. And that is why we are conducting this precise temporary evacuation “.
Bombings on Rafah
During the night, the army bombed Rafah, killing 16 people from two families. “ At this time yesterday, we were very optimistic and we were waiting for the announcement of a ceasefire. Today we are on edge “, Najat Shaat, a 59-year-old resident of Rafah, testified to AFP on Sunday.
Shortly before, the Israeli army told AFP that three soldiers were killed and 12 others injured on Sunday by rockets fired by the armed wing of Hamas around Kerem Shalom, the main crossing point for humanitarian aid from Israel. towards the Gaza Strip.
The Ezzedine al-Qassam brigades claimed responsibility for the fire, which led Israel to close the crossing used to deliver aid to Gaza. The Israeli army reported Monday morning on the social network X that it had intercepted an “enemy drone flying towards Israel.”
Hezbollah fires rockets at Israeli base
Furthermore, the Lebanese Islamist movement Hezbollah, supported by Iran, announced that it had fired on Monday “ dozens of rockets » on an Israeli base located in the Syrian Golan occupied by Israel, in retaliation for an Israeli strike on eastern Lebanon.
Hezbollah fighters launched “ dozens of Katyusha rockets” targeting “the headquarters of the Golan division (…) at the Nafah base “, declared the movement in a press release, specifying that it was ” of a response to the enemy attack targeting the Bekaa region “.
Earlier, the Lebanese National News Agency (ANI) reported that three people were injured before dawn in an Israeli strike in the east of the country, where Hezbollah has a strong presence.
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