Israeli troops have swept through most of Gaza (data map)
Israel is planning to expand its ground offensive into the city of Rafah, where more than 1 million Palestinians have sought refuge in an Israeli offensive that has engulfed much of the Gaza Strip since Hamas militants attacked Israel on October 7. Areas were razed to the ground.
Israel has in recent days begun airstrikes in Rafah, an area in the southern Gaza Strip next to the Egyptian border.
Why is Israel planning a ground offensive against Rafah?
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has called Rafah the “last bastion” of Hamas, which houses four battalions of gunmen and would prevent Israel from achieving its goal of wiping out the group if they remained there.
Israel has been trying to eliminate Hamas since an Oct. 7 Hamas-led attack killed about 1,200 people and led to the kidnapping of 253 others to Gaza, according to Israeli statistics.
Israeli forces have swept through much of Gaza in an operation that has killed more than 28,000 people, according to health authorities in the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip.
How many people are there in Rafah and what are the conditions there?
Rafah has nearly 1.5 million people, six times its pre-October 7 population, according to UNRWA, the U.N. agency that provides aid and basic services to Palestinians.
Many of them camped out in the streets, in open spaces, on beaches and in the sand near Egypt’s border wall. Others huddle in filthy, overcrowded shelters.
Doctors and aid workers are working to provide essential assistance and stop the spread of the disease. The Norwegian Refugee Council called it a “huge refugee camp.”
A doctor who recently left Gaza described Rafah as a “closed prison,” with feces-strewn streets and overcrowding with little room for medical personnel’s vehicles to pass.
Where will the displaced people go?
Israel ordered civilians to flee south, with many heading for Rafah, before previous attacks on Gaza Strip cities.
Netanyahu’s office said it had ordered the military to make plans to evacuate Rafah.
But aid officials and foreign governments say they have nowhere to go. Egypt says it will not allow large numbers of Palestinian refugees to enter its territory.
How have other countries responded to these plans?
US President Joe Biden told Netanyahu that Israel should not take action in Rafah without a plan to ensure the safety of people taking refuge there.
Israel’s other allies, including Britain and Germany, have expressed concern at the prospect of a Rafah offensive.
Dutch Foreign Minister Hank Bruins Slaughter said it was “difficult to imagine a large-scale operation in such a densely populated area that would not result in many civilian casualties and an even greater humanitarian disaster”, calling it ” unreasonable”.
Egypt warned of “dire consequences”.
Israel says it takes extensive measures to protect civilians but is forced to conduct military operations in civilian areas because of Hamas’s presence there.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
