CAIRO/GAZA:On Thursday, as Israeli forces advanced into Rafah, one of Gaza’s most devastated cities, hundreds of thousands of Gazans were forced to flee. This marked one of the largest mass displacements of the war, with many seeking refuge in nearby areas as Israel sought to take control of the region, which is part of a newly declared “security zone.”
The previous day, Israel had announced plans to capture large sections of Gaza, and by Thursday, its forces had entered Rafah, located on Gaza’s southern border. This city had been a refuge for those who had fled other parts of Gaza during the ongoing conflict.
The health ministry in Gaza reported that at least 97 people had died in Israeli airstrikes in the last 24 hours, including 20 who were killed in an airstrike on the Shejaia district in the northern part of Gaza. Later on Thursday, an Israeli airstrike also hit a school sheltering displaced families in Gaza City, killing at least 27 Palestinians, including women and children.
Medics reported that three missiles struck the Dar Al-Arqam school in the Tuffah neighborhood, a building that had become a makeshift shelter for displaced families. The Israeli military stated it had targeted a Hamas command center believed to be involved in organizing attacks against Israeli civilians and soldiers.
One refugee from Rafah, now in neighboring Khan Younis, told Reuters, “Rafah is gone; it is being wiped out.” He described the ongoing destruction, saying that homes and buildings were being torn down.
The Israeli assault on Rafah represents a major escalation in the conflict, which resumed last month after the expiration of a ceasefire that had been in place since January. In Shejaia, a district in the north of Gaza, residents fled the area, many carrying their belongings on foot, by donkey cart, or in vans.
Israel has not revealed the long-term objectives for the security zone it is currently establishing, but Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu referred to the area as the “Morag Axis,” an area between Rafah and Khan Younis, once home to an abandoned Israeli settlement.
Since the end of the first phase of the ceasefire in March, Israel has imposed a total blockade on Gaza, which has exacerbated the already dire humanitarian situation. The United Nations and international organizations have labeled the blockade a humanitarian catastrophe.
There are growing fears in Gaza that Israel intends to depopulate these areas permanently, leaving hundreds of thousands of people homeless while taking control of Gaza’s remaining agricultural land and key water infrastructure.
On Thursday, Israel’s military announced it was investigating the deaths of 15 Palestinian aid workers found in a shallow grave in March. The workers, who were believed to have been shot while near Red Crescent vehicles, had been killed during an Israeli attack. Israel’s military claimed that it fired at the vehicles after mistakenly identifying them as carrying Hamas fighters.
Israel’s official war objective has been to dismantle Hamas, which has controlled Gaza for nearly two decades. Hamas continues to hold hostages—59 individuals, both deceased and alive—that Israel demands be released as part of any potential temporary ceasefire. Hamas, in turn, has insisted that the hostages will only be freed under the condition that the war ends.
