The Riverside Press-Enterprise
Israel may expand civilian `safe zone'
Officials say that will happen if it invades crowded city in Gaza
>> An Israeli military official has said that if an invasion were to begin in Rafah, a city in the southern Gaza Strip where 1 million displaced Palestinians are sheltering, an Israeli-designated “humanitarian zone” along the coast would be expanded to take in more civilians.
The comments are among the first indications of the Israeli military’s plans for civilians in case of a major ground maneuver in Rafah, which the Biden administration has urged Israel to forgo because of the risks it would pose to displaced Palestinians.
Palestinians who have sought shelter in Rafah have been bracing for an Israeli incursion for months, huddling in crowded tents, schools and apartments.
Many have followed Israeli calls to evacuate only to encounter bombardment in those places, too.
Israeli officials have repeatedly said that the army will enter Rafah to fight Hamas battalions there, bucking international pressure to back off any operation.
In the case of an invasion, Israel would tell Palestinians to go to the enlarged “humanitarian zone,” which would include a narrow strip of beachside land known as Muwasi, and other unidentified areas in Gaza, said the military official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss internal deliberations, on Monday evening.
It was unclear how much land beyond Muwasi that Israel would seek to designate as a “humanitarian zone” for civilians. Satellite imagery from Planet Labs revealed a significant increase in the number of people in Muwasi over the last few months:
An aerial image from Sunday shows tent encampments occupying land that had been empty in mid-january.
Sandra Rasheed, director of the Jerusalem office of Anera, a relief group, said Israel hadn’t told it of an imminent operation in Rafah, but the organization had found a shelter for its staff members and their families to relocate to in Muwasi. United Nations officials also said they hadn’t been informed by Israel of an impending invasion.
The western edge of Rafah’s built-up area is near Muwasi’s southern border and around 2 1/2 miles from its center.
Israel’s military first said Gaza’s residents should move to Muwasi in midoctober.
It reiterated that demand in December when it issued evacuation orders for the nearby city of Khan Younis and told residents to head to Muwasi and some areas in Rafah.
Satellite imagery also appeared to show a new cluster of hundreds of tents being built west of Khan Younis.
Imagery taken Thursday showed more than 100 tents in the area.