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More than 80,000 people have left Rafah since Monday as Israeli continues its offensive in southern Gaza, the UN has said.
Most of those uprooted by Israeli military evacuation orders in eastern Rafah have already been displaced from other areas of Gaza, according to the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA).
The agency said people people were leaving with everything they can carry “in vehicles, trucks, (on) motorbikes and donkey carts”.
Shelling has been reported in Rafah overnight, just hours after US president Joe Biden publicly vowed to withhold weapons from Israel if its forces make a ground offensive into southern Gaza.
“I made it clear that if they go into Rafah ..., I’m not supplying the weapons,” Mr Biden, whose administration has repeatedly asked Israel for its plan to protect civilians in Rafah, said in an interview with CNN.
There was no immediate comment from Israel on Mr Biden’s remarks, but Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu has vowed the Rafah operation will go ahead, saying it must hit Rafah to defeat Hamas fighters there.
Key Points
- Biden says US won’t supply weapons for Israel to attack Rafah
- Civilians in Gaza killed from US bombs, acknowledges Biden
- No more concessions to Israel in truce talks, says Hamas
- Unicef concerned for 600,000 displaced Palestinian children
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Defence minister Yoav Gallant said Israel would do whatever necessary to achieve its war aims in Gaza despite growing international pressure to halt an invasion of Rafah.
He said: “I turn to Israel’s enemies as well as to our best of friends and say - the State of Israel cannot be subdued. We will stand strong, we will achieve our goals - we will hit Hamas, we will hit Hezbollah, and we will achieve security.
“We have no choice, we have no other country. We will do whatever is necessary, and I repeat - whatever is necessary, in order to defend the citizens of Israel, to remove the evil threats against us, and to stand up to those who attempt to destroy us.”
On Wednesday, US president Joe Biden warned Israel it would stop supplying weapons if it went ahead with its planned ground invasion of Rafah, which the UN warned would be a “bloodbath”. Israel claims Hamas’s last four battalions are hiding in the city.
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UN spokesperson Olga Cherevko who is currently in Rafah, has also described the “horrific” conditions people are living in. She said: “We have not had enough aid entering since the beginning of this war.
“It’s horrific, there’s almost a 1.5 million people living here, basically on top of each other.
“The number of humanitarian workers that we’ve lost which is now over 240 people that have been killed, some of them in the line of duty.”
Ms Cherevko’s comments come as Israeli military launched its offensive in Rafah, despite repeated warnings from the US and UK.
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80,000 displaced from Rafah as Israeli bombardment intensifies, UN says
More than 80,000 people have left Rafah since Monday as Israeli continues its offensive in southern Gaza, the UN has said.
Most of those uprooted by Israeli military evacuation orders in eastern Rafah have already been displaced from other areas of Gaza, according to the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA).
UNRWA said people people were leaving with everything they can carry “in vehicles, trucks, (on) motorbikes and donkey carts”.
More than 47,500 people are estimated to have left shelters in Rafah on Wednesday alone, the agency added.
Tom Barnes9 May 2024 13:38 Newer1 / 5OlderDisclaimer: The copyright of this article belongs to the original author. Reposting this article is solely for the purpose of information dissemination and does not constitute any investment advice. If there is any infringement, please contact us immediately. We will make corrections or deletions as necessary. Thank you.
