Fierce fighting rocks Gaza
After US warning of post-war ÔanarchyÕ
RAFAH (AFP) Ð Israel battled Hamas in Gaza yesterday, including in far-southern Rafah, despite US warnings against a full-scale invasion of the crowded city and of the threat of post-war ÒanarchyÓ across the Palestinian territory.
Clashes also raged in northern and central areas of the besieged Gaza Strip, AFP correspondents and witnesses said, as Israel prepared to mark a somber Independence Day, beginning Monday night, more than seven months into the war sparked by HamasÕ Oct. 7 attack.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told a Memorial Day event that Òour war of independence is not over yet. It continues even today. We are determined to win this struggle.Ó
AFP correspondents reported helicopter strikes and heavy artillery shelling in the east of Rafah, as well as battles in northern GazaÕs Jabalia refugee camp and Gaza CityÕs Zeitun neighborhood.
Israel last week defied international warnings, including from its top ally Washington, and sent tanks and soldiers into the east of Rafah, a city on the Egyptian border where some 1.4 million Palestinians had sought shelter.
This has sparked an exodus of nearly 360,000 people from Rafah so far, said the UN agency for Palestinian refugees UNRWA, which warned that Òno place is safeÓ in the largely devastated territory.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Sunday that Washington had not seen any credible Israeli plan to protect civilians in Rafah, and that Òwe also havenÕt seen a plan for what happens the day after this war in Gaza ends.Ó