In a sign of bleaker days to come, Israeli Defence Minister, Yoav Gallant has announced that Israeli forces will continue their Gaza military campaign to Rafah, despite the huge numbers of Palestinian civilians there.
In a post on X, Gallant said that victory won’t be complete unless the military expands into Rafah.”
It is important to note that Rafah was declared a “safe zone” by Israel.
“The Khan Younis Brigade of the Hamas organization is disbanded, we will complete the mission there and continue to Rafah. The great pressure that our forces exert on Hamas targets brings us closer to the return of the abductees, more than anything else [we can do]. We will continue until the end, there is no other way.”
Yoav Gallant
Israeli forces have continually expanded their campaign south to areas where they have previously told Palestinians to flee for safety, killing many civilians, most of them women and children.
Rafah is the southernmost city in Gaza and there is nowhere further south for civilians to go as Israel and Egypt will not let them leave the territory.
Eighty-five per cent of Gaza’s 2.2 million strong population is already displaced, and Rafah, already overcrowded, is now hosting more than 1 million people.
UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) voiced concern about the hostilities in Khan Younis, which have forced more people to flee to Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip.
Jens Laerke, spokesperson for the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said, “I want to emphasise our deep concern about the escalation of hostilities in Khan Younis, which has resulted in an increase in the number of internally displaced people seeking refuge in Rafah in recent days.”
“Thousands of Palestinians have continued to flee to the south, which is already hosting over half the population of some 2.3 million people. … Rafah is a pressure cooker of despair, and we fear for what comes next.”
Jens Laerke
Meanwhile, domestic calls for a ceasefire and captives deal have mounted with protesters gathering again in Tel Aviv, Israel, carrying placards featuring captives’ faces and slogans such as “No more bloodshed.”
Activist Moran Zer Katzenstein said, “This government, our leadership, needs to make decisions and they need to be brave.”
“We need them to bring the hostages back, right now. The only way is through a deal,” the activist added.
Gaza Death Toll Continues To Soar
The Health Ministry in Gaza announced that at least 27,131 Palestinians in Gaza have been killed by Israeli attacks since October 7, while another 66,287 have been wounded.
It added that 112 Palestinians have been killed and 148 injured during the past 24 hours.
The Hamas-run health ministry said that 105 people were killed overnight, while the Hamas press office reported Israeli air and artillery bombardment around Khan Younis – southern Gaza’s main city and the focus of recent fighting.
According to Israeli newspaper, Haaretz which quoted army data, eight soldiers have been wounded in the past day, two of them seriously.
Three of the wounded were hit in the Gaza Strip, the data showed.
Additionally, the Palestinian Prisoners Society disclosed that 25 Palestinians have been detained overnight during Israeli raids across the occupied West Bank.
Eleven of them are from Baqat al-Hatab in Qalqilya while the rest are from Jenin, Hebron, Tubas, Tulkarem and Jerusalem.
Those detained include a woman, minors and one injured Palestinian.
These arrests increase the number of Palestinians detained in the occupied territory since October 7 to 6,485.
READ ALSO: Fitch Solutions’ Inflation Easing Forecast for Ghana in 2024 and Policy Measures to Fuel Growth
