Rafah attack - Central News Hub

Israeli Airstrikes Hit Eastern Rafah, Gaza

Before the attacks started, the Israeli army had called on the Palestinian civilian population to temporarily evacuate from eastern Rafah…reports Asian Lite News

The Israeli army carried out on Monday airstrikes on areas in eastern Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip, said Palestinian security sources and eyewitnesses.

Sources and eyewitnesses told Xinhua that Israeli airstrikes created fire belts in the vicinity of Gaza Airport and on the outskirts of the Al-Salam neighbourhood, east of Rafah.

The raids caused large explosions and inflicted significant damage on nearby structures, with no injuries reported yet.

Before the attacks started, the Israeli army had called on the Palestinian civilian population to temporarily evacuate from eastern Rafah.

Avichai Adraee, a spokesperson of the Israeli army, said in a press statement that “for all people who live in the neighbourhoods of Al-Salam, Al-Jeneina, Tabba Zaraa, and Al-Byouk in the Rafah area in blocks 10-16, 28, and 270, the army will work with extreme force against terrorist organisations there.”

Israel considers Rafah the last major stronghold of Hamas in the Gaza Strip. Located in the southernmost part of the Strip, Rafah shelters approximately 1.4 million Palestinians.

Israel launched a large-scale offensive against Hamas in Gaza on October 7, 2023, following Hamas’s surprise attack on southern Israel that killed about 1,200 people.

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Israel’s Ultimatum: Release 33 Hostages or Face Rafah Assault

Israel, citing its internal report, has said that of the 129 Israeli hostages, there are 33 people who fall in the category of aged, women, and ill.

Israel has demanded the release of at least 33 hostages by Hamas to prevent the planned attack on the city of Rafah in the south of the Gaza Strip.

Sources in the Israeli Defence Ministry told IANS that the demand was put forward by Mossad chief David Barnea before the visiting Egyptian delegation headed by its intelligence chief Major General Abbas Kamel.

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi has already expressed his country’s concern over the planned attack on Rafah to the US Secretary of State Antony Blinken during the latter’s recent visit to Cairo.

Egypt fears that an attack on the Rafah region would lead to civilian catastrophe as well as a huge refugee exodus to Egypt as Rafah borders the Sinai region of the country.

Israel, citing its internal report, has said that of the 129 Israeli hostages, there are 33 people who fall in the category of aged, women, and ill. According to Israel, many of the 129 hostages are dead.

Israel has also said that it would not allow any time buying tactics by Hamas led by Yahya Sinwar, its military commander and the “mastermind of the October 7, 2023 massacre”.

Israeli intelligence has claimed that Sinwar is in Rafah in one of the Hamas tunnels with the Israeli hostages as human shields.

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) has already deployed its elite Nahal Brigade in Rafah ahead of the planned attack.

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