Israel and Hamas at war, day 222 | Netanyahu says ‘humanitarian catastrophe’ avoided in Rafah

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(Rafah) Hundreds of thousands of Palestinians continue to flee Rafah, a town in the south of the Gaza Strip threatened by a major Israeli offensive, but where, according to the Israeli Prime Minister, “a humanitarian catastrophe” has been avoided.



What there is to know

  • The Palestinians mark Wednesday the anniversary of the Nakba, the “Catastrophe” that was for them the creation of Israel;
  • According to Benjamin Netanyahu, there is no “humanitarian catastrophe” in Rafah;
  • Hamas Health Ministry announces new death toll in Gaza at 35,233;
  • UN chief Antonio Guterres on Tuesday called for “the immediate reopening” of the Rafah crossing point.

Hamas leader Ismaïl Haniyeh affirmed Wednesday that the Islamist movement, which took power in Gaza in 2007 that Benjamin Netanyahu promised to annihilate, was “here to last” and that he would decide with other Palestinian factions to governance in Gaza after the war with Israel.

Ismail Haniyeh added that the outcome of the ceasefire talks was uncertain, as Israel “insists on occupying the Rafah crossing and amplifying its aggression” into the Palestinian territory.

He was speaking, in a televised speech, after more than seven months of war, on the day when the Palestinians commemorated the “Nakba” or “Catastrophe”, in reference to their forced exodus during the creation of Israel in 1948.

The population, threatened with famine and displaced several times since the start of the war between Israel and Palestinian Hamas, is once again on the roads in search of a new refuge, even if “there is no safe place in Gaza,” according to the UN.

Benyamin Netanyahu is determined to launch a major land offensive in Rafah, on the southern edge of the small Palestinian territory, where according to him the last Hamas battalions are entrenched.

Worried about the civilian population, the United States, like a large part of the international community, is opposed to such an offensive in this city located on the Egyptian border, where hundreds of thousands of displaced people are crowded together.

“Disagreement” with Washington

Mr. Netanyahu believes that “the humanitarian catastrophe” in Rafah was avoided by Israel, affirming that “nearly half a million people had evacuated the combat zone” in this city where the Israeli army is carrying out operations. military operations since May 7.

“Seventy-six years after the Nakba, Palestinians continue to be forcibly displaced. In the Gaza Strip, 600,000 people have fled Rafah since the intensification of military operations,” lamented the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA).

US President Joe Biden threatened last week to limit US military aid to his ally amid concerns of a large offensive in Rafah. But the American executive notified Congress on Tuesday that it would deliver weapons to Israel for around a billion dollars, AFP learned from sources familiar with the matter.

During an interview with the American channel CNBC, the Israeli Prime Minister acknowledged a “disagreement” with Washington on Rafah. “But we have to do what we have to do,” he said.

The European Union, for its part, urged Israel to “immediately cease” its operation in Rafah, otherwise it would “strain” its relationship with the EU.

The war in Gaza plunges the Palestinians into a new “Nakba”, laments a Gazans who fled the fighting.

“The Nakba that we are experiencing […] is the worst of all. Much harder than that of 1948,” laments Mohammed al-Farra, 42, driven out with his family by the fighting and Israeli bombings of their house in Khan Younes (south).

During the “Nakba,” approximately 760,000 Palestinian Arabs were driven into exile and took refuge in neighboring countries or what would become the West Bank and Gaza Strip, according to the UN.


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