Tens of thousands of displaced and exhausted Palestinians have packed up their tents and other belongings and fled the southern city of Rafah for other parts of Gaza. Israel has repeatedly threatened to invade Rafah, where some 1.3 million Palestinians — over half Gaza’s population — have sought refuge. “Where are we supposed to go? Where is the world, that’s just watching us?” said Ahmad Abed, who has an 8-month-old daughter. “It’s like we’re sheep.” Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel said Thursday that a U.S. threat to withhold some arms would not prevent Israel from continuing its offensive in Gaza. Israel launched a limited operation earlier this week that captured the Gaza side of the Rafah border crossing with Egypt, blocking the entry of humanitarian aid. The U.N. says northern Gaza is already in a state of “full-blown famine.”
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Palestinians Flee Rafah Amid Escalating Israeli Military Actions
- Mass Exodus: Tens of thousands of Palestinians, including many carrying young children and elderly relatives, have evacuated Rafah as Israel intensifies its military operations in the area. The southern city of Rafah is considered Hamas’ last major stronghold in Gaza, where over half of Gaza’s population has sought refuge amidst the conflict.
- Netanyahu’s Stance: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has declared that U.S. warnings will not deter Israel’s military strategy. Despite U.S. opposition, he has affirmed that Israel will continue its operations in Gaza to eliminate Hamas and rescue hostages taken by militants.
- Humanitarian Crisis: The ongoing conflict has led to severe humanitarian crises across Gaza, with the U.N. reporting “full-blown famine” in northern parts. The capture of the Gaza side of the Rafah border crossing by Israeli forces has significantly hindered the entry of humanitarian aid, exacerbating the situation for the displaced and starving population.
- Casualty and Displacement: The war has driven approximately 80% of Gaza’s 2.3 million residents from their homes, with the local health officials reporting a death toll exceeding 34,500, predominantly among women and children. The scale of displacement and destruction includes widespread damage to residential buildings, healthcare facilities, and educational institutions.
The Associated Press has the story:
Palestinians flee Rafah as Netanyahu vows to ‘fight with our fingernails’ despite US warnings
Newslooks- JERUSALEM — (AP)
Tens of thousands of displaced and exhausted Palestinians have packed up their tents and other belongings and fled the southern city of Rafah for other parts of Gaza. Israel has repeatedly threatened to invade Rafah, where some 1.3 million Palestinians — over half Gaza’s population — have sought refuge.
“Where are we supposed to go? Where is the world, that’s just watching us?” said Ahmad Abed, who has an 8-month-old daughter. “It’s like we’re sheep.”
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel said Thursday that a U.S. threat to withhold some arms would not prevent Israel from continuing its offensive in Gaza. Israel launched a limited operation earlier this week that captured the Gaza side of the Rafah border crossing with Egypt, blocking the entry of humanitarian aid.
The U.N. says northern Gaza is already in a state of “full-blown famine.”
Israel says Rafah is the last stronghold of Hamas and that the army must go in if it hopes to dismantle the group and return scores of hostages captured in by militants on Oct. 7. That attack killed around 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and about 250 others were abducted. Israel says militants still hold around 100 hostages and the remains of more than 30 others.
The war in Gaza has driven around 80% of the territory’s population of 2.3 million from their homes and caused vast destruction to apartments, hospitals, mosques and schools across several cities. The death toll in Gaza has soared to more than 34,500 people, according to local health officials.
UNRWA WILL CLOSE ITS JERUSALEM OFFICE AFTER ISRAELI PROTESTERS SET FIRE TO PERIMITER TWICE
JERUSALEM — The U.N. agency for Palestinian refugees is closing its Jerusalem compound after Israeli protesters twice set fire to its perimeter.
Philipe Lazzarini, the commissioner-general of UNRWA, said no one was injured but that staff had to put the fires out themselves because firefighters and police were slow to arrive.
He shared video of Thursday’s protest, in which the crowd can be heard chanting “Burn the U.N.” in Hebrew. In a post on the platform X, Lazzarini called it an “outrageous development,” saying “once again, the lives of UN staff were at a serious risk.”
He said that in light of the “appalling incident” he had taken the decision to shut down the compound.
On Tuesday, protesters damaged the gate of the compound, prompting the U.N. to lodge a protest with Israeli authorities.
Israel has accused UNRWA, which is the largest provider of humanitarian aid to Gaza, of having links to Hamas and other Palestinian militants, some of whom allegedly took part in the Oct. 7 attack that triggered the war in Gaza.
UNRWA denies any links to such groups. It immediately fired the employees when it was informed about the allegations pertaining to Oct. 7 and launched an internal investigation.
An independent review last month found that UNRWA had submitted full lists of its thousands of staffers to Israel every year since 2011, without Israel expressing concern about any of them.
The review said the agency has “robust” procedures to uphold the U.N. principle of neutrality but cited gaps in implementation.
NETANYAHU VOWS TO ‘FIGHT WITH OUR FINGERNAILS’ AS U.S. SAYS IT WON’T SEND WEAPONS FOR RAFAH ASSAULT
JERUSALEM — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu minister said Thursday that his country will “stand alone” if it has to in its war against Hamas after President Joe Biden said the U.S. would not provide offensive weapons for Israel’s long-promised assault on the southern Gaza city of Rafah.
“If we need to, we will fight with our fingernails,” he said. “But we have much more than fingernails.”
Netanyahu’s comments come amid a deepening crisis in relations with the United States.
Israel says that Rafah is Hamas’ last stronghold in Gaza, and Netanyahu has repeatedly vowed to invade the city despite widespread international opposition due to concerns over the more than 1 million Palestinian civilians huddled in the city.
Biden’s comments about providing weapons were the latest sign of steadily deteriorating relations between Israel and its closest and most important ally after seven months of Israel’s war against Hamas.
ISRAELI ACTIVISTS OPPOSED TO HUMANITARIAN AID FOR GAZA BLOCK MAJOR HIGHWAY
TEL AVIV, Israel — Israeli activists opposed to sending humanitarian aid to Gaza have blocked a major highway in southern Israel, snarling traffic and leading to at least a dozen arrests, according to a protest group leading the efforts.
Over the past week, activists with the Tzav 9 organization have blocked trucks that arrived from Jordan bound for Gaza.
“These trucks are taking food to Hamas, and Hamas are murderers, rapists and terrible, terrible people,” said Ruben Frankenburg, as he placed himself in front of a truck bound for Gaza near the Kerem Shalom crossing in southern Israel. He added that Israel was being “forced by the Americans to give them this food.”
Another protester claimed the humanitarian aid was allowing Hamas to continue to fight. “There’s no other place in the world that one side gives the supplies to the other side, it’s crazy, it’s nuts,” said protester Yonatan Godalis, as he stood blocking an 18-wheeler and holding an Israeli flag.
The protests have caused traffic jams across the country, including shutting down parts of the country’s main highways. On Thursday, activists also blocked the road near the town of Mitzpe Ramon, halting traffic up Israel’s iconic desert highway and a main artery toward the south and the Gaza Strip. The protests have caused delays and headaches for drivers but no aid has been halted from reaching the crossings, according to COGAT, the Israeli military branch responsible for handling the humanitarian aid.
ISRAEL RAIDS NAZARETH OFFICES OF AL JAZEERA
TEL AVIV — Israel raided the Nazareth offices of the Qatar-based Al Jazeera satellite news network, days after the government shuttered the network’s offices in Israel.
On Thursday, the Ministry of Communications said forces confiscated equipment from the office in northern Israel that had been used to transmit live broadcasts of Al Jazeera on Wednesday.
“Israel won’t let Hamas broadcast from here,” Communications Minister Shlomo Karhi wrote on X.
Al Jazeera’s headquarters in Doha, Qatar, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Israel ordered the local offices of Al Jazeera to close Sunday, escalating a long-running feud between the broadcaster and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s hard-line government as Doha-mediated cease-fire negotiations with Hamas hang in the balance.
Since the order, the broadcaster has moved many of its English-language service correspondents operating in Israel to Amman, Jordan. Others still operate from the Gaza Strip and the West Bank.
The extraordinary order, which includes confiscating broadcast equipment, preventing the broadcast of the channel’s reports and blocking its websites, is believed to be the first time Israel has ever shuttered a foreign news outlet operating in the country.
Currently:
— What are the latest obstacles to bringing aid into Gaza, where hunger is worsening?
— Biden says U.S. won’t supply weapons for Israel to attack Rafah, in warning to ally.
— Israel says it reopened a key Gaza crossing after a rocket attack. The U.N. says no aid has entered.
— Has Israel followed the law in its war in Gaza? The U.S. is due to render a first-of-its-kind verdict.
Follow AP’s coverage of the war at https://apnews.com/hub/israel-hamas-war
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