Deir al-Balah (Gaza Strip), March 31 (AP) The Israeli military issued an evacuation order on Monday covering most of Rafah, indicating that it may soon be conducting another major ground operation in the southernmost city of the Gaza Strip.
Israel and Hamas militant groups ended the ceasefire and renewed the air and ground war earlier this month.
In early March, it cut off all supplies of food, fuel, medical and humanitarian aid, putting pressure on approximately two million Palestinians in the region to accept changes to the armistice.
The evacuation order appears to cover almost all cities and nearby areas. The military ordered the Palestinians to go to Movasi, a squalit camp of tents along the coast. The orders were issued during the Eid al-Fitr, a Muslim holiday that is usually a holiday that marks the end of Ramadan fasting.
Last May, Israel launched a major action in Rafah on the border with Egypt, leaving most of it in ruins. The military occupied a strategic corridor along the border, and the intersection of Rafa and Egypt, the only gateway to Gaza to the uncontrolled outside world of Israel.
Israel was supposed to withdraw from the corridor under ceasefire signed with Hamas in January under U.S. pressure, but later refused on the grounds that it would prevent weapons from smuggling.
Doctor’s body killed by Israeli fire is recovered
Last week, Israeli troops killed 15 first responders in a ground operation in the Tel al-Sultan neighborhood of Rafah, while the International Federation of the International Red Cross and Red Crescent said it was the deadliest attack on its years of medical staff.
The Israeli military said its troops opened fire on several vehicles that raised suspicion by not having headlights or emergency signals. The military said Hamas surgical staff and eight other militants were killed.
The deceased included eight Red Crescent workers, six members of Gaza’s civil defense, the country’s Ministry of Defense operated under the leadership of the Hamas-run government and had one UN worker, the UN Office said.
Rescuers were only allowed to enter the area nearly a week later to recover the body. Video of Sunday’s recovery operation released by the United Nations showed civil defense personnel digging a pile of sand and pulling out the body of the same orange vest as the rescuers.
Netanyahu vows to implement Trump’s Gaza plan
Israel vowed to strengthen its military operations until Hamas released the remaining 59 hostages, 24 of whom were believed to be alive. Israel also demanded that Hamas disarm and leave the territory, the conditions not included in the ceasefire agreement and the conditions Hamas refused.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Sunday that after the war Israel will be in charge of Gaza’s security and implement a proposal from U.S. President Donald Trump to relocate Gaza’s population to other countries, calling it voluntary immigration.
The plan has been widely rejected by Palestinians, who see it as forced expulsion from their homeland, which human rights experts say may violate international law.
Meanwhile, Hamas insists on implementing the signed agreement that calls for the release of the remaining hostages in exchange for a lasting ceasefire and Israeli evacuation.
Negotiations on those parts of the agreement were supposed to begin in February, but only preliminary talks were held.
The war began on October 7, 2023, with Hamas-led militants attacking Israel, traversing army bases and agricultural communities, and killing about 1,200 people, mostly civilians.
The militants took another 251 hostages, and most of them have since been released in a ceasefire or other transactions.
According to the Gaza Ministry of Health, Israel’s retaliatory offensive killed more than 50,000 Palestinians, which does not say how many civilians or combatants are. At its peak, the war had displaced 90% of the Gaza population, many of whom had fled many times.
Large areas of Gaza have been completely destroyed and it is unclear how or when anything will be rebuilt. (AP)
