‘Invasion Imminent, Leave Now’: Israeli Army To Palestinians In Rafah

The Israeli Army on Monday told Palestinians to begin evacuating eastern Rafah signalling that a ground invasion is imminent. News agency Associated Press accessed an Israeli Defense Force statement on Monday which asked Palestinians to move to Muwasi, an Israeli-declared humanitarian area near the coast.

The IDF said it had expanded assistance into the area, including field hospitals, tents, food and water.

The IDF announcement comes amid fragile cease-fire talks and ahead of a highly anticipated ground offensive that Israel has vowed it will proceed regardless of a deal or truce. It says the Rafah operation is aimed at weeding out the remaining Hamas militants.

“Calls to temporarily move to the humanitarian area will be conveyed through flyers, SMS messages, phone calls and media broadcasts in arabic. The IDF will continue pursuing Hamas everywhere in Gaza until all the hostages that they’re holding in captivity are back home,” the IDF sad in a post on social media site X.

Lt. Col. Nadav Shoshani, an army spokesman, said Israel was preparing a “limited scope operation” and would not say whether this was the beginning of a broader invasion of the city. But last October, Israel did not formally announce the launch of a ground invasion that continues to this day.

The move comes a day after Hamas militants carried out a deadly rocket attack from the area that killed three Israeli soldiers.

Medics and first responders in Gaza said 16 people were killed in Israeli retaliatory air strikes in Rafah Sunday.

Defence minister Yoav Gallant had claimed on Sunday that Hamas was unserious about the truce deal which Israel proposed and warned of a “powerful operation in the very near future in Rafah”.

More than 1.4 million Palestinians — more than half of Gaza’s population — are currently crammed into the town of Rafah, where they have sought refuge fleeing from the war in Gaza triggered by Hamas, the coastal strip’s governing authority, following its October 7 attacks that resulted in the deaths of more than 1,170 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally of Israeli official figures.

Militants also seized some 250 hostages, with Israel estimating that 128 hostages abducted on October 7 remain in Gaza, including 35 who the military says are dead.

Vowing to destroy Hamas, Israel’s retaliatory offensive has killed at least 34,683 people in Gaza, mostly women and children, according to the Hamas-run territory’s health ministry.

The Palestinian civilian toll has strained ties between Israel and its main military supplier and ally the United States.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Friday that “the only thing standing between the people of Gaza and a ceasefire is Hamas”.

The US has publicly said through both Blinken and his boss, US President Joe Biden, that it is not in favour of an operation in Rafah that does not take into account the safety of civilians.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday rejected international pressure to halt the war in Gaza in a fiery speech marking the country’s annual Holocaust memorial day, declaring: “If Israel is forced to stand alone, Israel will stand alone.” He also said that he remains committed to the operation in Rafah.

“I say to the leaders of the world: No amount of pressure, no decision by any international forum will stop Israel from defending itself. Never again is now,” he said.