Israel launches Rafah assault, says ceasefire talks to continue
Israel began striking targets in the southern Gaza town of Rafah, its leaders said Monday, hours after Hamas announced it had accepted an Egyptian-Qatari cease-fire proposal. Still, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he would send negotiators to continue talks on the deal.
The high-stakes diplomatic moves and military brinkmanship left a glimmer of hope alive — but only barely — for an accord that could bring at least a pause in the 7-month-old conflict that has devastated the Gaza Strip. Hanging over the wrangling was the threat of an all-out Israeli assault on Rafah, a move that the United States strongly opposes and that aid groups warn will be disastrous for some 1.4 million Palestinians taking refuge there.
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Sahar Abu Nahel, who fled to Rafah with 20 family members, including her children and grandchildren, wiped tears from her cheeks, despairing at a new move.
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“I have no money or anything. I am seriously tired, as are the children,” she said. “Maybe it’s more honorable for us to die. We are being humiliated.”
Jan Egeland, secretary-general of the Norwegian Refugee Council, condemned the “forced, unlawful” evacuation order and the idea that people should go to Muwasi.
“The area is already overstretched and devoid of vital services,” Egeland said. He said that an Israeli assault could lead to “the deadliest phase of this war.”
Israel’s bombardment and ground offensives in Gaza have killed more than 34,700 Palestinians, around two-thirds of them children and women, according to the Hamas-run Gaza health ministry. The tally doesn’t distinguish between civilians and combatants. More than 80 per cent of the population of 2.3 million have been driven from their homes, and hundreds of thousands in the north are on the brink of famine, according to the U.N.
Tensions escalated Sunday when Hamas fired rockets at Israeli troops positioned on the border with Gaza near Israel’s main crossing for delivering humanitarian aid, killing four soldiers. Israel shuttered the crossing.
Meanwhile, Israeli airstrikes on Rafah killed 22 people, including children and two infants.
The conflict was sparked by the unprecedented Oct. 7 raid into southern Israel in which Hamas and other militants killed around 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and abducted around 250 hostages. After exchanges during a November cease-fire, Hamas is believed to still hold about 100 Israelis as well the bodies of around 30 others.
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—Mroue reported from Beirut. Samy Magdy in Cairo and Zeke Miller in Washington contributed.
