- Israel has warned Palestinians to evacuate the southern Gaza city of Rafah ahead of an impending ground evacuation.
- This follows the breakup of negotiations between Israel and Hamas over the weekend as the conflict continues.
- Despite international calls for Israel not to move forward with its invasion of the territory, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has vowed to persist.
Israel on Monday called on Palestinians to leave eastern Rafah ahead of a ground invasion into southern Gaza City, amid growing global alarm over the consequences of such a move.
The evacuation call followed disagreements between Israel and Hamas over the Palestinian militants' demands for an end to the seven-month war during weekend negotiations in Cairo.
Egyptian state media said talks stalled after four Israeli soldiers were killed in a rocket attack claimed by Hamas militants on Sunday.
Ignoring international concerns, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has vowed to send ground troops to Rafah with or without a ceasefire.
US President Joe Biden and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu are scheduled to meet later on Monday, the White House said.
“We have made clear to the Israeli government our position on a large-scale ground invasion of Rafah, and the president will meet with the prime minister today,” a National Security Council spokesperson told AFP. Ta.
“We continue to believe that hostage trading is the best way to protect the lives of hostages and avert an invasion of Rafah, where more than one million people have taken refuge.
A Palestinian family is forcibly evacuated from eastern Rafah after Israeli forces threatened to use “extreme force” in the area.
World leaders have repeatedly warned against military attacks on the city, which is home to more than 1.5 million displaced people. pic.twitter.com/AUjOTsZ0x3
— Al Jazeera English (@AJEnglish) May 6, 2024
“Those negotiations are currently underway.”
Hamas said Israel was planning a major attack in the besieged Gaza Strip “without regard to the ongoing humanitarian disaster or the fate of the hostages held there.”
A Palestinian presidential statement called on Washington to stop the “genocide” in Rafah.
Jordan's Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi posted on X: “A new genocide of Palestinians is underway… We must all act now to stop it.”
Under development | Israeli forces begin evacuation of Palestinian civilians from Rafah, radio reports
UNICEF warned that the approximately 600,000 children crammed into Rafah faced “further catastrophe”.
Israel's “limited” and temporary evacuation order aims to “move people away from danger” and comes in the wake of deadly rocket fire that the Israeli military said originated from areas adjacent to Rafah. It was done.
Gaza civil defense and aid officials said Israeli warplanes had attacked areas in Rafah, including al-Shuka and al-Salam, and both areas had been told to evacuate.
The Palestinian Red Crescent said “thousands” of Gazans were moving out of eastern Rafah.
One million people were evacuated to Rafah. The United States has been warning of an attack for months.
Prime Minister Netanyahu ignored the warning. Now an attack is imminent. It will kill countless civilians.
President Biden needs to back up his words with action. End all offensive military aid to Israel.
— Bernie Sanders (@SenSanders) May 6, 2024
In a statement, the Israeli military called on residents of eastern Rafah to head to the “extended humanitarian zone” in al-Mawashi on the coast.
The area “will include a field hospital, tents, and increased supplies of food, water, medicine, and additional supplies.”
But aid groups said the safe zone designated by Israel was not ready for an influx of people.
Jan Egeland, president of the Norwegian Refugee Council, said: “This area is already overstretched and lacks important services.”
Israeli military offensive #Rapha It would mean more civilian suffering and death.The outcome would have a devastating impact on 1.4 million people.@UNRWA No evacuations: authorities will remain in Rafah as long as possible and continue to provide life-saving aid to people pic.twitter.com/8anQ8Eq6Gv
— UNRWA (@UNRWA) May 6, 2024
UNRWA, Gaza's main aid group, said: “Israeli military attacks in Rafah will mean more civilian suffering and death.”
The UN agency added: “There have been no evacuations.”
Asked how many people would need to be moved, an Israeli military spokesperson said: “The estimate is around 100,000.”
The Red Crescent Society said about 250,000 people live in designated evacuation zones, many of whom have already migrated from elsewhere.
Abdul Rahman Abu Jazar, 36, said the area his family was told to evacuate to was already full and “there is not enough space to pitch a tent.”
“Where should I go?” he asked.
On Monday, European Union foreign affairs chief Josep Borrell said the evacuation order was “unacceptable” and called on Israel to “abandon” the ground offensive.
France's foreign ministry said it “strongly opposed” the attack on Rafa.
Also read | Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vows that “Israel will not comply with Hamas' demands,'' making it difficult to reach a cease-fire agreement with Hamas.
The bloodiest war in Gaza's history began after Hamas' unprecedented attack on Israel on October 7, resulting in the deaths of more than 1,170 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally of Israeli government officials. did.
Israel estimates that 128 hostages abducted by militants on October 7 remain in Gaza, including 35 who the military says are dead.
Israel, vowing to destroy Hamas, carried out retaliatory strikes that killed at least 34,735 people in the Gaza Strip, mostly women and children, according to the Hamas-run territory's health ministry.
About 1.2 million people have evacuated to Rafah, according to the World Health Organization.
Shortly after the war began, Israel directed Palestinians in northern Gaza to move south to “safe zones” including Rafah, near the Egyptian border.
But Rafah has been repeatedly bombed, including on Monday after the evacuation order, and Palestinians say there is no safe place in Gaza.
Emergency services said 16 people were killed in an airstrike in Rafah on Sunday, hours after a Hamas rocket attack killed an Israeli soldier at the Kerem Shalom border crossing.
In response to the airstrike, Israeli authorities closed a railroad crossing used to deliver aid, and in response the military said its fighter jets had destroyed the launch pad from which it was launched.
Egypt's intelligence-linked Al-Qahera News reported on Monday that the rocket attack had “caused an impasse in ceasefire negotiations,” citing senior sources.
Despite the evacuation order, Hamas spokesman Abdul Latif al-Kanou told AFP that the movement “continues to negotiate positively.”
A person familiar with the ceasefire talks told AFP that CIA Director Bill Burns, who is mediating the talks, is scheduled to meet the Qatari prime minister in Doha for “urgent” talks.
The official, speaking on condition of anonymity due to the sensitivity of the issue, said the meeting would “determine whether we can get talks back on track.”
Hamas officials close to the negotiations said on Sunday that the group's negotiators were heading from Cairo to Doha for “talks” after weekend talks without an Israeli delegation failed to produce a breakthrough. Ta.
Hamas negotiators are scheduled to return to Cairo on Tuesday, Al-Qahera News reported.
Ismail Haniyeh, the political director of Qatar-based Hamas, accused Netanyahu of sabotaging the talks, but Netanyahu's office on Monday called this a “complete lie.”
Joost Hiltermann, director of the Middle East and North Africa program at the International Crisis Group think tank, told AFP that Sunday's Hamas rocket launch and Israel's evacuation order could both be seen in the context of ceasefire negotiations.
“When something goes wrong, the violence escalates,” he said.