According to the UN, by Monday, almost 360,000 Palestinians had left Rafah, the southernmost city in the Gaza Strip, in an exodus that had tripled in size in a matter of days. The disturbance was started late last week by the Israel Defense Forces, who sent out fliers and texts to residents in the eastern part of the city instructing them to evacuate.
Since then, IDF forces have advanced across the southern region of Palestinian land, launching what the military describes as targeted and constrained operations against Hamas infrastructure and terrorists.
Fearing massive deaths, the U.S. has cautioned Israel several times not to undertake a significant military ground campaign in Rafah.
Along with other nations, the White House has also stepped up pressure on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s administration to devise a plan for handling the humanitarian crisis brought on by the war, as well as for the “day after,” to determine who or what will take over as Gaza’s governing body in place of Hamas.
The Biden administration reiterated its warning over the weekend that Israel needs an exit strategy from the conflict and that, even in the event that Hamas is vanquished, the group—which has been labeled a terrorist organization by both Israel and the United States—may make a comeback if there isn’t a workable plan in place to rule Gaza.
Meanwhile, there are also visible rifts between Israel’s military and government. Senior military officials have been openly pressuring Netanyahu to choose Hamas’ successor as the organization in charge of Gaza, warning that if that decision is made without delay, Israeli forces may find themselves stranded there.
Families of Israeli soldiers share similar worries. Over the weekend, Netanyahu’s cabinet was urged to reconsider a ground assault on Rafah by 600 family members of serving IDF soldiers, citing the possibility that the move “could be no less than a death trap.”
“Any reasonable person understands that when they have been announcing and warning for months about entering Rafah, there are those who are working to prepare the ground and harm the forces there,” the letter informed the families.
Although the Biden administration has stated that it will not provide arms for what it views as a foolish full-scale military campaign in Rafah, Netanyahu has not backed down from his promise to launch that attack, claiming multiple Hamas battalions are stationed in the city.
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken received an update on the conflict from Israel’s Defense Minister Yoav Gallant over the phone throughout the night, including details of “the precise operation in the Rafah area against remaining Hamas battalions,” according to a statement from Gallant’s office.
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Gazans are often compelled to evacuate
Following Israel’s warnings of an impending advance, the broken-down neighborhoods in the southeast part of Rafah were strangely quiet on Monday morning.
Thousands of individuals who had previously fled to the city due to Israeli directives have now gone once more, this time to the coastal region of al-Mawasi, west of Gaza, where Israel has established a large camp for the displaced.
Thousands of families are camped out in tents over a desolate stretch of coastline, leaving them vulnerable to the weather even though it is now out of the line of fire.
