GAZA: Gaza civil defence and aid officials said on Monday that Israeli jets struck two areas in eastern Rafah the Israeli military had ordered to be evacuated, ahead of a possible ground invasion of the Palestinian city, AFP reported.
“The areas targeted by the Israeli occupation are near the perimeter of Gaza International Airport, the Al-Shuka area, the Abu Halawa area, the Salaheddin street area and the Salam neighbourhood,” Gaza Civil Defence Agency spokesman Ahmed Ridwan told AFP. Meanwhile, another aid official confirmed the Israeli strikes.
The Israeli military did not offer an immediate comment, but earlier on Sunday it ordered Palestinian residents of Al-Shuka and Al-Salam to evacuate and move to other areas.
Osama al-Kahlut from the emergency operations department of the Red Crescent Society said that the bombing was targeting eastern areas of Rafah. “It is clear that it is targeting homes, but we have not received any communications or information about the presence of victims in the targeted areas,” he said.
Eastern Rafah resident Yaqub al-Sheikh Salama, 30, said the bombing was intense in Al-Salam, Al-Shuka, and other areas. “There are massive explosions and terrifying sounds of aerial and artillery bombardments,” Salam told AFP. “Children and women are scared and don’t know where to go,” he said.
Earlier today, the Israeli army had ordered Palestinians in eastern Rafah to evacuate from the area. A spokesperson for the Israeli army told the media that it is evacuating about 100,000 people from eastern Rafah, ahead of an expected ground offensive. The world has warned Israel that a military operation in Rafah would be “catastrophic”.
The new development took place as the Israeli troops have started pounding Rafah, where over a million Palestinians are taking shelter, killing around 21 civilians, media reported earlier on Monday.
Emergency services said that seven people from one family and nine from another were martyred in the Israeli air strikes. Health source said that Israeli strikes took place in two different areas in the bordering city.
On Sunday, at least three Israeli soldiers were killed in a Hamas rocket attack, near the southern Gaza Strip city of Rafah. Hamas’s military wing claimed responsibility for an attack on the Kerem Shalom crossing into Gaza on Sunday.
Gaza health ministry said that over 34,600 Palestinians have been killed mostly women and children in brutal Israeli strikes since October 7. Similarly, more than 78,000 people including women and children have been wounded in Israel’s air strikes.
Meanwhile, western media reported that prospects for a Gaza truce appeared slim on Sunday as Hamas reiterated its demand for an end to the ongoing war in exchange for the freeing of captives, and the Israeli Prime Minister completely ruled that out.
The two parties accused each other of the stalemate and the Hamas delegation said it would leave Egypt ceasefire talks on Sunday night to consult with its top leadership. However, the Hamas planned to return to Cairo on Tuesday, Reuters cited sources.
On their second day of negotiations with Qatari and Egyptian mediators, Hamas’s negotiators said that their position that any ceasefire agreement must end the war, Palestinian officials stated.
