By Marita MoloneyBBC News9 February 2024Updated 4 hours agoVideo caption, Watch: ‘We’ll never leave Gaza’ – Palestinians who fled to Rafah fear Israeli assaultIsraeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has ordered the military to get ready for the evacuation of civilians from the southern Gazan city of Rafah in preparation for an extended offensive against Hamas.Around 1.5 million Palestinians have sought shelter in Rafah to escape Israeli military operations in the rest of Gaza. Aid organizations have stated that it is not feasible to evacuate the entire population from the city. Mr Netanyahu has instructed military and security officials to present a comprehensive plan to the cabinet for both the evacuation of the population and the dismantling of Hamas battalions, his office announced on Friday.”It is not possible to achieve the objective of the war without eliminating Hamas, while leaving four Hamas battalions in Rafah. On the contrary, it is clear that intense activity in Rafah necessitates the evacuation of civilians from the combat zones,” the statement added.Earlier in the week, Mr Netanyahu declared that he had directed troops to “prepare to operate” in Rafah and that Israel’s complete victory over Hamas was just a few months away. These comments were made while rejecting Hamas’s latest proposed terms for a ceasefire. It has been reported that negotiators for Hamas are leaving the Egyptian capital, Cairo, and talks between the two sides are currently on hold.Most of the residents of Rafah have been displaced due to the conflict in other areas of Gaza and are currently living in tents.Rafah is the sole crossing point between Gaza and Egypt. On Friday, top EU diplomat Josep Borrell expressed concern in a post on social media: “Reports of an Israeli military offensive on Rafah are alarming. It would have catastrophic consequences worsening the already dire humanitarian situation & the unbearable civilian toll.”Earlier in the week, UN Secretary General António Guterres warned of a “humanitarian nightmare” in the city. His spokesman Stéphane Dujarric later added: “We are extremely worried about the fate of civilians in Rafah… I think what is clear is that people need to be protected, but we also do not want to see any forced displacement, forced mass displacement of people”.Meanwhile, the head of the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, UNRWA, said there was “a sense of growing anxiety and growing panic in Rafah”. Philippe Lazzarini told reporters in Jerusalem: “People have absolutely no idea where to go after Rafah.””Any large-scale military operation among this population can only lead to an additional layer of endless tragedy that’s unfolding.”Israeli air strikes on Gaza on Friday reportedly resulted in the deaths of at least 15 people, including eight in Rafah, as reported by officials from the Hamas-run health ministry. Israel did not immediately issue a statement.Garda al-Kourd, a mother-of-two who said she had been displaced six times during the conflict, expressed her expectation of an Israeli assault, but hoped for a ceasefire agreement before it occurred.”If they come to Rafah, it will be the end for us, like we are waiting for death. We have no other place to go,” she told the BBC from a relative’s house in the city, where she was living with 20 other people.Speaking on Thursday, US President Joe Biden stated that Israel’s actions in Gaza had been excessive. He used the same “over the top” phrase earlier in the week to refer to the Hamas response to a plan for a truce in Gaza in exchange for the release of hostages.US National Security Council spokesman John Kirby remarked that the Israeli military had a “special obligation as they conduct operations there or anywhere else to make sure that they’re factoring in protection for innocent civilian life”.”Military operations right now would be a disaster for those people and it’s not something that we would support,” he said.According to Israeli officials, over 1,200 people were killed during the Hamas attacks on southern Israel on 7 October. In response to the conflict, more than 27,900 Palestinians have been killed and at least 67,000 injured, according to the Hamas-run health ministry.
