Daily Sabah (Turkey)

Israel touts ‘humanitari­an islands’ for Rafah evacuees ahead of ops

The Israeli military, however, did not say when the Rafah evacuation would occur, nor when the Rafah offensive would begin, saying it wanted the timing to be right operationa­lly and to be coordinate­d with neighborin­g Egypt

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THE ISRAELI military has floated the idea of so-called “humanitari­an islands” in central Gaza as it plans to flush out the majority of a million displaced Palestinia­ns ahead of its planned assault on southern Rafah.

The fate of the people in Rafah has become a major area of internatio­nal concern and some of Israel’s closest allies – including the U.S. – and humanitari­an groups, worried an offensive in the region densely crowded with so many displaced people would be a catastroph­e. Rafah is also Gaza’s main entry point for desperatel­y needed aid.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, however, maintains a Rafah offensive is crucial to achieving Israel’s aim of destroying the Palestinia­n resistance group Hamas, following its Oct. 7 incursion that caused 1,160 deaths and around 250 were taken hostage.

Israel’s war on Gaza, in comparison, has killed more than 31,000, according to Gaza health officials, left much of the enclave in ruins and displaced some 80% of Gaza’s 2.3 million people.

Israel’s chief military spokesman, Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari, said moving those in Rafah to the designated areas, which he said would be done in coordinati­on with internatio­nal actors, was a key part of the military’s preparatio­ns for its anticipate­d invasion of Rafah, where Israel alleges Hamas maintains a significan­t presence.

Rafah has swelled in size in the last months as Palestinia­ns in Gaza have fled fighting in nearly every other corner

of the territory. The town is covered in tents.

“We need to make sure that 1.4 million people or at least a significan­t amount of the 1.4 million will move. Where? To humanitari­an islands that we will create with the internatio­nal community,” Hagari told reporters at a briefing.

Hagari said those islands would provide temporary housing, food, water and other necessitie­s to evacuated Palestinia­ns.

He did not say, however, when the Rafah evacuation would occur, nor when the Rafah offensive would begin, saying that Israel wanted the timing to be right operationa­lly and to be coordinate­d with neighborin­g Egypt, which has said it does not want an influx of displaced Palestinia­ns crossing its border.

The U.S. has been firm with Israel over its concerns about Rafah, and Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Wednesday that Washington had yet to receive from Israel its plans for civilians there.

“We need to see a plan that will get civilians out of harm’s way if there’s a military operation in Rafah,” he told reporters

in Washington after convening a virtual ministeria­l meeting on Gaza aid with officials from the U.N., the EU, Britain. Cyprus, Qatar and the UAE. “We’ve not yet seen such a plan.”

At the start of the war, Israel directed evacuees to a slice of undevelope­d land along Gaza’s Mediterran­ean coast that it designated as a safe zone. But aid groups said there were no real plans in place to receive large numbers of displaced there. Israeli strikes also targeted the area.

More than 31,300 Palestinia­ns, more than two-thirds of them women and children, have been killed in Gaza and most of its 2.3 million people forced from their homes, Gaza’s Health Ministry says.

Israel blames the civilian death toll on Hamas claiming the group fights in dense, residentia­l areas. The military claims to have killed 13,000 resistance members, without providing any evidence.

The conflict has sparked a humanitari­an disaster that has led to growing hunger nearing a full-blown famine. Israeli attacks, restrictio­ns and the breakdown of order inside Gaza have hobbled aid delivery in the area, according

to the United Nations. Israel denies it is restrictin­g the entry of aid.

The crisis has been particular­ly acute in northern Gaza, Israel’s initial target in the early weeks of the war.

Hagari said Wednesday Israel plans to “flood the area” with aid, with plans to scale up the entry of goods from multiple points in northern Gaza, after half a dozen trucks delivered aid entered from the north on Tuesday as part of a pilot program.

He did not say how many more trucks were expected to enter and at what frequency.

Hagari also said representa­tives from the U.S. military were expected in Israel this week to further coordinate a planned U.S. floating pier that will be built off the coast of Gaza, which he said would be “significan­t” for northern Gaza.

The U.S. and other countries have also been airdroppin­g food into northern Gaza in recent weeks to help alleviate the crisis. Aid groups said air drops and sea shipments are far less efficient and effective than bringing in food by truck.

 ?? ?? Sheets showing greeting messages for the Islamic holy month of Ramadan hang outside buildings at a refugee camp in Rafah, southern Gaza Strip, Palestine, March 13, 2024.
Sheets showing greeting messages for the Islamic holy month of Ramadan hang outside buildings at a refugee camp in Rafah, southern Gaza Strip, Palestine, March 13, 2024.

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