Israel Begins Evacuating Civilians From Parts of Rafah Amid Reports of Possible Military Operation
IDF: “In recent hours, flyers were dropped calling on the residents of eastern Rafah to evacuate temporarily toward the expanded humanitarian area.”
The Israeli military on Monday stated the evacuation of civilians from parts of Rafah, a move that might pave the way for an offensive on Hamas’s last stronghold in Gaza.
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) is airdropping leaflet and using all forms of communication to guide Rafah residents out of the potential combat zone. “In recent hours, flyers were dropped calling on the residents of eastern Rafah to evacuate temporarily toward the expanded humanitarian area,” the military said in a statement. “Calls to temporarily move to the humanitarian area are conveyed through flyers, SMS messages, phone calls and media broadcasts in Arabic.”
The IDF is expected to relocate “approximately 100,000 people … to facilitate further ground maneuvering in the region,” the Israeli TV i24NEWS reported Monday morning:
The ongoing conflict, now in its 213th day, has prompted the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) to undertake targeted evacuation operations in specific areas of Rafah. It is estimated that approximately 100,000 people will be evacuated to facilitate further ground maneuvering in the region. In tandem with the evacuation efforts, the IDF is expanding the humanitarian zone in Al-Mawasi to accommodate the influx of humanitarian aid into Gaza. This expanded humanitarian area includes field hospitals, tents, and increased provisions of essential supplies such as food, water, and medication.
The IDF has expanded the humanitarian area in Al-Mawasi to accommodate the increased levels of aid flowing into Gaza. This expanded humanitarian area includes field hospitals, tents and increased amounts of food, water, medication and additional supplies.
In accordance with the… pic.twitter.com/si47k9FCCz
— Israel Defense Forces (@IDF) May 6, 2024
The Israeli news website YNET reported the ongoing humanitarian operation to evacuate parts of Rafah:
The IDF on Monday began evacuating the population in Rafah neighborhoods, following the collapse of the hostage deal negotiations and Hamas’s demand to end the war in Gaza. Sources familiar with the details told Ynet the terror group’s official response to the proposed Egyptian deal has yet to be received.
“The IDF is expanding the humanitarian zone in Al-Mawasi and is calling on the population to temporarily evacuate from the eastern neighborhoods of Rafah to the expanded humanitarian space,” the IDF Spokesperson’s Unit said in a statement, that was also conveyed to the Gazan population by an IDF spokesperson in Arabic.
In the morning hours, the IDF dropped missives with instructions for the evacuation via designated routes for residents in eastern Rafah to reach defined safe areas prepared by the military to the north of the city near Al-Mawasi. The IDF estimates that about 100,000 Palestinians reside in the evacuated area, out of 1.3 million residents in the entire Rafah region.
The IDF continues airdropping leaflets on Rafah: pic.twitter.com/WxCgvOMKF5
— Israel War Room (@IsraelWarRoom) May 6, 2024
The plan to evacuate civilians from Rafah comes after hostage negotiations suffered a major blow when Hamas on Sunday fired rockets at a humanitarian border crossing, killing four IDF soldiers, Arab media reports suggest.
“Egypt’s state-affiliated Al Qahera news TV quotes an unnamed “high-level” source as saying that Hamas’s deadly attack on Gaza’s Kerem Shalom crossing yesterday has caused an impasse in the hostage-truce deal talks,” The Times of Israel reported Monday. “Four IDF soldiers were killed when Hamas fired a barrage of rockets at the area near the crossing.”
Iran-backed Hezbollah terror group escalates on Israel’s north, anticipating Rafah op
Lebanon-based Iranian proxy terrorist group Hezbollah on Monday intensified attacks along Israel’s northern border, anticipating an IDF operation to take Rafah, the Jerusalem Post reported:
The Iranian-backed terrorist group Hezbollah claimed to target Israel with “dozens” of katyusha rockets on May 6. The attack targeted the Golan where sirens were heard in several areas in the central Golan. Hezbollah said it had targeted the “Golan division headquarters” in a statement to Al-Mayadeen.
The report on the attack said that “the Islamic Resistance in Lebanon – Hezbollah announced that it had targeted, on Monday morning, the headquarters of the Golan Division (210th) at the Nafah base with dozens of ‘Katyusha’ rockets.” This is part of a series of Hezbollah escalations in the last days. It also attacked Kiryat Shmona on May 5 with 20 rockets and carried out an additional attack in the north with around 40 projectiles on May 5. (…)
The Hezbollah escalation comes as Iran is likely watching the developments in Gaza amid Israeli calls for civilians to evacuate eastern Rafah. This means that Iranian-backed proxies and terror groups may increase their attacks.
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Comments
For crying out loud Bibi, get it done.
What prevents Hamas from evacuating Rafah along with its citizens?
Come on Bibi…just do it.
Women and children only and men, well…sorry but elections have consequences.
Bomb first, ask questions later.
It’s more than they deserve.
I think it’s time Israel stopped worrying about what everyone thinks about it and just get the job done. The court of public opinion is not going to keep Jews alive.
I don’t think it’s so much Israel caring what the world thinks, as the world has always been against Jews, and taken the “we don’t care” approach at its most benign and the constant battering, attacking, killing and shaming at its worst. But Israel does care about its weapon supply from the US, and having some kind of playing card to hold over the terrorist; so that I think has been the hold up. At this point, my opinion is that given the weak sauce US administration, Hamas will never agree to any hostage release and has just been stalling to allow time for them to escape, booby trap, and build up weapons. I know The number one priority is the hostages so this is incredibly sad, but not surprising, because Hamas sees holding even one hostage as a prize and there is no international pressure on them whatsoever, so they will not be releasing them for anything short of maximal demands and awards. The Palestinians always become completely recalictrant whenever a weak as water US president is in the whitehouse, because they know that there will be no consequences they will keep getting all the money and conscessions and don’t have to do anything.
This has to be done with an eye to the end-game, which is the day after Israel recovers the hostages and kills as many of the Hamas leadership as they can find. Then Israel is faced with governing Gaza for some indefinite period, during which the surviving leadership of Hamas, ensconced, say, in Qatar, continues to wage this war of information. Israel’s current position is difficult; its way forward is fraught with difficulties.
Israel’s road will be difficult, with or without Hamas. It should destroy Hamas as a lesson that Israel will always chose the difficulties that come with the destruction of its enemies, rather than the difficulties that come with allowing its enemies to survive.
Although it could never be publicly admitted, it’s clear to all the players that the hostages will never be released alive. They are Hamas’ only bargaining chip, and their only shield from aerial attack either by plane or drone. While most are no doubt already dead, either from savage treatment or neglect of fundamental needs or both, they must be (publicly) presumed to be alive. In the best scenario for Hamas, that presumption keeps negotiations alive.
Note however that Hamas wants negotiations only to drag out the process until Israel is forced to concede by outside pressure. The gambit is to hold out until the UN/US stops the Israelis. The hostages would then continue to be held as insurance that Israel will not resume attacks.
Assuming that Israel were to actually begin its attack on Rafah, attempting to avoid collateral injury to the hostages increases the difficulty of the fighting for the IDF since artillery, bombing, and drones can’t be used except with great caution. The difficulty will increase exponentially as the noose tightens. The last battle will be ended hand-to-hand with the surviving Hamas leaders literally holding pistols to the few surviving hostages’ heads.
hamas will strike at those leaving and claim israel did it and AI some video to back their sh up
Moving civilians away from where you’re going to attack doesn’t seem very genocide-y. Preparing shelter and support for the displaced, even less so.
I suppose civilians in Rafah could shelter in some of those tunnels, if armed Hamas weren’t there first.