Israel Launches Brutal Invasion Of Rafah
South Front (Editorial)
Israel has launched a ground operation in the area of Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip, ignoring all international warnings of a humanitarian catastrophe.
Israel has launched a ground operation in the area of Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip, ignoring all international warnings of a humanitarian catastrophe.
The Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) launched the operation on May 6, a day after four of its troops were killed and wounded around ten others in a rocket attack on the southern Israeli area of Kerem Shalom which was launched by the Hamas Movement from Rafah.
More than 1,4 million Palestinians who had been taking refuge in Rafah were ordered by the IDF to evacuate to a “‘humanitarian zone” in the al-Mawasi area and other parts of central Gaza and Khan Yunis city in the southern part of the Strip. This so-called humanitarian zone is heavily bombarded, badly serviced, and lacks proper resources.
The IDF struck Rafah at least 50 times during the initial push. Later that day, Israeli troops entered the outskirts of Rafah and approached the Rafah Border Crossing and the Egyptian border. 20 Hamas fighters were killed in the operation, according to the IDF.
Hamas announced that it had accepted an Egyptian-Qatari ceasefire proposal in a last-ditch effort to stop the invasion, but this was ignored by Israel.
On the morning of May 7, the IDF captured the Rafah crossing. Hamas and other Palestinian armed factions shelled advancing Israeli troops and Kerem Shalom from Rafah again.