‘Like a ghost town now’: Palestinians flee for safety amid Israel’s threat of Rafah invasion

Gaza: As battles raged connected the outskirts of Rafah connected Wednesday with Israeli forces closing in, Palestinians were connected the determination again, abandoning neighbourhoods of the confederate Gaza metropolis and leaving them arsenic shade towns.

Israel has threatened a large battle connected Rafah to decision thousands of Hamas fighters it says are holed up there, but much than a cardinal radical are sheltering successful the city, prompting warnings from the United Nations of a humanitarian catastrophe.

Displaced Palestinians get successful cardinal Gaza aft fleeing from the confederate Gaza metropolis of Rafah.Credit: AP

Israeli forces tasked with destroying the Palestinian Islamist radical Hamas, connected Tuesday seized the main borderline crossing betwixt Gaza and Egypt successful Rafah, cutting disconnected a captious way for assistance into the enclave, wherever malnutrition is widespread.

Israel’s subject said it was conducting a constricted cognition successful Rafah to termination fighters and dismantle infrastructure utilized by Hamas, which runs Gaza. It told civilians to spell to an “expanded humanitarian zone” immoderate 20 km away.

Three residents of Rafah told Reuters by telephone that tens of thousands of radical person fled the city, which was seen arsenic the past refuge for Palestinians who person been displaced galore times implicit arsenic Israeli aerial strikes pulverised Gaza.

Palestinians get successful cardinal Gaza aft leaving Rafah.Credit: AP

People successful the Jneina, Al-Shawka, Al-Salam and different neighbourhoods were ordered by the Israeli service to permission successful anticipation of an assault. Some 1.4 cardinal radical person been sheltering successful Rafah, raising the imaginable of large casualties.

“Some streets look similar a shade municipality now,” said Aref, 35, who asked not to beryllium named, fearing Israeli reprisals.

“We don’t fearfulness decease and martyrdom but we person kids to attraction for and unrecorded for different time erstwhile this warfare ends and we rebuild the city,” helium told Reuters via a chat app.

Many Rafah residents said they received warnings implicit their phones, and planes dropped leaflets.

Juliette Touma, manager of communications of the UN Palestinian exile bureau UNRWA, estimated that astir 10,000 Palestinians person near Rafah since Monday.

The Hamas-run Gaza authorities media bureau enactment the fig of radical fleeing astatine tens of thousands and warned against a “massacre”.

Residents said tanks, which had moved successful to instrumentality power of the crossing, had not entered built-up areas of the metropolis and weapon battles were inactive extracurricular the metropolis limits.

Suleiman Abu Kweik and his household are being displaced for the 4th time. ”

“Our homes person been destroyed. In Gaza (City) our house… they destroyed it. It was shelled. We went to Khan Younis. When they threated Khan Younis, we went to Rafah,” helium said.

The Israeli service has ordered tens of thousands of radical to evacuate Rafah arsenic it conducts a crushed cognition there. Credit: AP

Hamas said its fighters were battling Israeli forces successful the eastbound of Rafah. Lines of fume from aerial strikes and vessel shelling roseate from places eastbound of the city, residents said.

“Some radical are inactive staying successful their homes, adjacent successful the reddish portion areas, but I daresay that tens of thousands person already near Rafah, including from areas westbound of the city, that are not included successful the concern service warning,” said Mohammed Emad, 34, a begetter of three.

Abu Ahmed Al-Najar said much than 60 families who lived successful structure camps successful Al-Jneina vicinity successful Rafah had each near the country precocious connected Tuesday.

“Sixty-five families oregon 400 radical are present homeless. People person nary money, nary tents, nary 1 to enactment them,” helium said.

Some people, similar Mazen Ghadour, loaded their meagre belongings onto aged trucks.

“This is the 3rd oregon 4th clip we person had to move. We are 8 families. We unrecorded successful fear. There is nary harmless spot successful the full strip,” helium said.

“God knows wherever we volition go. We are going to the unknown. We are going to the unknown.”

The main maternity infirmary successful Rafah has stopped admitting patients, the United Nations Population Fund told Reuters connected Wednesday.

Israeli soldiers enactment connected armored subject vehicles astatine a staging crushed adjacent the Israeli-Gaza border.Credit: AP

The UNFPA told Reuters that the hospital, Emirati Maternity Hospital, had been handling immoderate 85 births each time retired of a full of 180 births successful Gaza each time anterior to an escalation of warring betwixt Hamas and Israeli troops connected Rafah’s outskirts.

Around fractional of Gaza’s 2.3 cardinal radical person been crowded into Gaza aft fleeing different parts of the enclave during 7 months of war.

US unit connected Israel

The Biden medication paused a shipment of bombs to Israel past week implicit concerns that the state was approaching a determination connected launching a full-scale battle connected Rafah against the wishes of the United States, Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin said Wednesday.

Austin confirmed the weapons delay, telling the Senate Appropriations subcommittee connected defence that the US paused “one shipment of precocious payload munitions.”

Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin: US is withholding weapons connected concerns astir Rafah.Credit: AP

“We’re going to proceed to bash what’s indispensable to guarantee that Israel has the means to support itself,” Austin said. “But that said, we are presently reviewing immoderate near-term information assistance shipments successful the discourse of unfolding events successful Rafah.”

The United States is reviewing different weapons packages to Israel aft it paused 1 shipment of near-term assistance, US State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said connected Wednesday, arsenic Washington remained acrophobic implicit Israel’s imaginable Rafah offensive.

The warfare erupted connected October 7 erstwhile Hamas militants crossed into Israel from Gaza and killed 1200 radical and took much than 200 hostages backmost to the enclave, according to Israeli tallies.

Israel responded with aerial and artillery strikes which person killed astir 35,000 people, Gaza wellness authorities say, and turned overmuch of 1 of the astir densely populated areas successful the satellite into a wasteland of rubble.

Reuters

Most Viewed successful World

Loading