SBS News/16.2.2024
Israel now has what it wants – a chance to kill 1.4 million people with the full backing of the USA and Britain leaders – Mark
The UN’s humanitarian chief says an Israeli assault on Rafah, where more than half of Gaza’s population is sheltering, “could lead to a slaughter”.
The UN estimates about 1.4 million Palestinians are in Rafah, many of whom fled there to avoid heavier bombing.
Israel has said its soldiers would move into Rafah, a move the UN has said could lead to “a slaughter”.
Most Palestinians are unable to cross into Egypt and risk being shot dead if they try to cross the Israel border.
There is nowhere safe in Gaza to go.
That’s what international relations and political science experts are saying as Israel plans its ground invasion into Rafah.
About 2,000 displaced people arrived in what is Gaza’s southernmost city on Thursday night, adding to more than a million who made their way there from other parts of Gaza earlier in the conflict, after the Israeli military urged them to head south.
Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said his country’s soldiers would enter Rafah, referring to it as “Hamas’ last bastion”. Netanyahu said Israel wanted to flush out Hamas militants from hideouts in Rafah and free Israeli hostages being held there.
He added: “We will fight until complete victory and this includes a powerful action in Rafah as well, after we allow the civilian population to leave the battle zones”. Aid agencies have also said the displaced have nowhere else to go in the territory.
Reuters has reported a spokesperson for Hamas saying that the attack on Rafah was a continuation of a “genocidal war” and forced displacement attempts Israel had waged against the Palestinian people.
Hamas is a Palestinian political and military group, which has governed the Gaza Strip since the most recent elections in 2006. Hamas’ stated aim is to establish a Palestinian state and stop the Israeli occupation of Gaza and the West Bank, illegal under international law.
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