At least twelve Palestinians have died this Monday night in a series of new bombings by the Israeli Army against the city of Rafah, in the south of the Gaza Strip, where the Israeli authorities have requested the evacuation of civilians in the face of an imminent ground operation against the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) considering that the city is its last stronghold.
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) have intensified their air strikes against the east of the city, precisely the area they intended to evacuate first, although they have also targeted other areas in the westernmost part, according to the Palestinian news agency WAFA.
Furthermore, the aforementioned agency has assured that the Israeli military vehicles are about 200 meters from the Rafah crossing, on the border with Egypt, which serves as an entry point for humanitarian aid to the enclave, and that they are shooting at the buildings of the surroundings.
Numerous Palestinian media have shared videos in which you can see the launching of flares over the city, especially in the eastern areas of Rafá, in what would be a preview of the imminent ground offensive.
In fact, the Palestinian newspaper ‘Filastín’ has already reported on the sound of a strong exchange of gunfire in this part of the city. Shortly before, the IDF itself has reported that it is “targeting and operating against targets of the Hamas terrorist organization selectively in Mizra Rafah”, in this same area.
Israeli aircraft have also bombed other locations throughout the enclave such as Gaza City, where they have killed four people in attacks on several neighborhoods.
The Israeli Armed Forces have bombed more than 50 “terrorist sites” of the Palestinian militia in Rafah during the day this Monday in preparation for the entry of ground forces, all after this morning they issued an evacuation order for the areas eastern parts of the region, affecting some 100,000 Palestinians.
In Rafá there are more than 1.4 million displaced people as a result of the entry of Israeli troops that have been sweeping the Palestinian enclave from north to south. More than 34,700 people, most of them civilians, have died in this retaliatory offensive to the attacks by Palestinian militias on October 7 in which some 1,200 people died.
Shortly after the evacuation announcement, Hamas accepted the ceasefire proposal raised by Egypt and Qatar, although Israel has decided to continue its offensive on Rafah. However, it has also announced the sending of a delegation of mediators to “exhaust” all options in order to close an agreement that meets its requirements.
