Israel is surrounded from all sides due to attack on ‘safe zone’ in war, know what is the latest situation in Rafah
The situation in the Gaza Strip’s Rafah city is getting worse. For the past three weeks, the Israeli army has been carrying out frequent attacks here. Due to Israeli attacks, the condition of the people living in Rafah is getting worse.
According to the news agency AP, Israeli army is deployed at every entry point of Gaza. Due to this, humanitarian aid is also not able to reach here. This shows that the Israeli army is going to intensify ground attacks in Rafah.
On the one hand, Israel is being condemned all over the world for its action in Rafah. On the other hand, Israel says that the war will continue until Hamas is destroyed.
Rafah was the only city in the Gaza Strip where lakhs of Palestinians had taken refuge. Not only this, humanitarian aid was also being delivered to the entire Gaza Strip from Rafah. In such a situation, the question arises that why is the Israeli army taking such strict action in Rafah?
What is Israel’s motive behind the attacks on Rafah?
The Israeli army’s operation on Rafah started on 6 May. But Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had talked about conducting an operation in Rafah on 9 February. He said that his aim is to destroy Hamas. He claims that there are four Hamas battalions in the city of Rafah.
In February, Netanyahu had said that until the four Hamas battalions are not destroyed in Rafah, the aim of this war will not be achieved.
Then in a statement issued by the Israeli PM’s office, it was said that before conducting a major operation in Rafah, it is necessary to evacuate the civilians living there, so the Prime Minister has asked the Israel Defense Force (IDF) for a plan to evacuate the people safely and destroy the Hamas battalion.
Netanyahu had said that Israel’s military action will stop only when Hamas is completely destroyed.
He had said, ‘If we do not eliminate the Hamas terrorists, then these new Nazis can commit the next massacre anytime.’ He also said that not allowing Israeli forces to enter Rafah would be like losing the war.
Israel’s action in Rafah
Seven months after the war with Hamas started on 7 October, the Israeli army started an operation in Rafah on 6 May. The IDF claimed to have killed 20 Hamas fighters and found three tunnels.
The Israeli army has claimed to have completely captured the Gaza Strip border with Egypt. This border is only 100 meters wide and 13 kilometers long. The Israeli army has described this border as Hamas’s ‘lifeline’. It claims that Hamas smuggles weapons into Gaza through this border. The Israeli army has also claimed to have found 20 tunnels used for smuggling weapons here.
On 20 May, the IDF claimed to have killed 30 Hamas fighters. During this time, the IDF not only intensified ground attacks but also air attacks in Rafah.
On 27 May, the IDF carried out the most horrific and deadly attack in Rafah. The Israeli army carried out air strikes on a relief camp in Rafah. Israel dropped 900 kg bombs on the relief camp. This was the first time Israel targeted a relief camp. Hamas claimed that 45 civilians were killed in this attack.
Israel was criticized worldwide for the attack on the relief camp. After this, Netanyahu called this attack a ‘tragic accident’. Addressing the Israeli Parliament, Netanyahu said, ‘Despite all efforts to not harm those who are not involved in this war, a tragic accident happened last night. We will investigate this matter.’
However, immediately after this attack, the IDF claimed that they had targeted the Hamas hideout. In this attack, the IDF claimed to have killed two top Hamas commanders – Yassin Rabia and Khaled Najjar.
Why is Rafah so important?
This war started after Hamas attacked Israel on 7 October last year. After this Israel attacked the Gaza Strip. At that time Netanyahu called it a war against Hamas. Israel considers Hamas a terrorist organization.
After starting the war against Hamas in Gaza, Israel appealed to the common citizens to move from north to south. The city of Rafah is in the south of Gaza. Before 7 October, the population here was 3 lakh. But after the Israeli attacks, the population here increased to 14 lakh, out of which more than 11 lakh were refugees.
Rafah was important because it was the only city that did not share borders with Israel. Rafah crossing was on the border of Egypt and Gaza and all humanitarian aid was reaching Gaza from here. Now this has also stopped after Israeli attacks intensified in Rafah.
Philippe Lazzarani, associated with UNRWA, a United Nations organization working for refugees, says that more than 1 million people have left Rafah in the last three weeks.
However, more than 37 thousand people have died in the war between Israel and Hamas in about eight months. Whereas, lakhs of people are forced to live like refugees and are living in relief camps.
