31 Palestinians killed in Israeli attack in Rafah, ground attack looms

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RAFAH, Gaza Strip — Israeli airstrikes killed at least 31 Palestinians, a third of them children, in the southern Gaza city of Rafah on Saturday, hours after Israel's prime minister asked the military to plan to evacuate hundreds of thousands of people. before the land grab.

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Benjamin Netanyahu did not provide details or a timeline, but the announcement caused widespread panic. More than half of Gaza's 2.3 million people flocked to Rafah, most of them displaced by Israeli evacuation orders that now cover two-thirds of Gaza. It is not clear where they will run next.

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Rafah, which borders Egypt, is the last remaining stronghold for Hamas militants in Gaza after more than four months of fighting sparked by an October 7 attack by Hamas, Israel says.

In Egypt's first public response to Netanyahu's announcement, Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry warned that any Israeli ground attack on Rafah would have “tragic consequences” and said Israel ultimately aims to expel Palestinians from its land.

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Shoukry also said Egypt was trying to bridge the gap between the warring parties to release the remaining hostages held on October 7 in exchange for Palestinian prisoners in Israel. “Negotiations are complicated,” he said.

Public rifts have been growing between Netanyahu and the Biden administration, whose officials have said the unplanned invasion of Rafah would be disastrous for civilians.

Israel has carried out almost daily airstrikes on Rafah in recent weeks, even after telling civilians to seek refuge from ongoing ground fighting in the northern town of Khan Younis.

At least 28 people were killed in three airstrikes on homes in the Rafah region on Saturday night, according to a health official and Associated Press reporters who saw the bodies arriving at hospitals. Each strike killed multiple members of the three families, including a total of 10 children, the youngest being 3 months old.

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According to Fadel al-Ghannam, one of the blows dismembered the bodies of his loved ones. He lost his son, daughter-in-law, and four grandchildren.

He feared the worst of Rafah's attack on the ground, and said the world's silence had allowed Israel to move forward. “Until today, the world has not shown us justice and given us our rights,” he said.

Another strike on Saturday evening killed three senior civilian police officers, according to Rafah city authorities.

In Khan Yunis, Israeli forces opened fire on Nasser Hospital, the region's largest, killing at least two people and wounding five, according to the medical charity Doctors Without Borders.

Health Ministry spokesman Ashraf Al-Qidra said hospital staff could no longer move between buildings due to the fire. According to him, 300 medical workers, 450 patients and 10,000 displaced people will be sheltered here.

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The Israeli military said its troops were not currently operating inside the hospital, calling the area around it an “active combat zone.”

About 80% of Gaza's 2.3 million residents have been displaced and the territory is facing a humanitarian crisis due to lack of food and medical services.

THE NUMBER OF DEATHS IN GAZA IS MORE THAN 28 THOUSAND

Gaza's health ministry said on Saturday that 117 bodies of people killed in Israeli airstrikes had been brought to hospitals in the past 24 hours, bringing the total death toll from the attack to 28,064, mostly women and children. The Ministry reported that more than 67,000 people were injured.

On October 7, Israel declared war after several thousand Hamas militants crossed the border into southern Israel, killing 1,300 people and taking 250 hostages.

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Israel holds Hamas responsible for civilian deaths because it fights from civilian areas, but US officials have called for more surgical strikes. President Joe Biden said this week that Israel's response was “over the top.”

Netanyahu's office said Friday that “the goal of the war to destroy Hamas cannot be achieved by leaving four Hamas battalions in Rafah.” He ordered the military and security officials to develop an “integrated plan” for the mass evacuation of civilians and the elimination of Hamas forces.

Israel's offensive has caused widespread destruction, particularly in the northern Gaza Strip, leaving hundreds of thousands of people homeless.

Egypt has warned that any Palestinian movement into Egypt would threaten the four-decade-old peace agreement between Israel and Egypt. The mostly closed Rafah border crossing serves as the main entry point for humanitarian aid.

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Rafah had a population of about 280,000 before the war, and the United Nations says it is now home to about 1.4 million people who have fled fighting elsewhere.

Jordanian Foreign Minister Ayman al-Safadi warned that “another bloodshed in Gaza cannot be allowed”.

DEATHS ARE MORE IN NORTH GAZA

Two Palestinian Red Crescent doctors who went missing 12 days ago were found dead in a wrecked ambulance on Saturday in the Tel al-Hawa neighborhood of Gaza City. They rushed to rescue 6-year-old Hind Rajab, who was traveling with his family to comply with evacuation orders.

The PRC had previously released a recording of a call from Hind's cousin, who said that only he and Hind had survived after the car was shot at. The uncle fell silent in the middle of the call.

The PRC said the rescue mission was coordinated with the Israeli military, which had no comment.

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