Troops mass for attack
On city where 1M have fled Civilian bloodbath fear as Israel ground assault looms
vilian population. More than half of the territory’s 2.3 million people have sought refuge in Rafah. This community, bordering Egypt, is the only city in Gaza the IDF has not yet entered.
Israel says its ground offensive is intended to target Hamas’s remaining four battalions and search for hostages taken in the October 7 massacre, which sparked the war.
Yesterday, Israelis in Tel Aviv protested en masse, calling for the hostages to be rescued from Hamas, increasing pressure on Mr Netanyahu to go ahead with the operation.
And Israel is taking damage too. Hamas and Palestinian Islamic
Jihad rockets have hit Sderot, near northern Gaza, several times this week. Yesterday, Hezbollah stepped up its shelling of northern Israel’s border towns, from where 80,000 Israelis have evacuated, firing 26 rockets.
Target
Shelling along the Israel-Lebanon border has repeatedly threatened to explode into all-out war, with Israel targeting Hezbollah chiefs.
It is also believed an attack on Rafah could spark a wider retaliation from Hezbollah and other Iranian proxies, including Yemeni Houthis and militant groups in Iraq and Syria. In Israel, the cross-border fighting has killed 10 civilians and 12 soldiers.
In Lebanon, more than 350 people have been killed, including 50 civilians and 271 Hezbollah
members.
But amid the violence, and even as the tanks line up near Rafah, frantic ceasefire negotiations go on. Hamas is debating an Israeli offering brokered by Egypt, the detail of which is not known. A Hamas delegation heads to Cairo today.
The latest proposal from Hamas includes offering one kidnapped IDF soldier for 50 released Palestinian prisoners, and/or a hostage pensioner for 30 inmates.
Days ago US contractors began work on a floating dock and causeway on Gaza’s coastline, to bring in aid.
It is hoped 150 vehicles carrying two million meals will use it to enter Gaza daily, easing the desperate food shortage.
The project is expected to take two weeks but its future is in doubt as several mortars were fired at it last week.