The threat of an Israeli offensive against Rafah persists. “Victory is within reach. We are going to do it. We are going to take the last terrorist battalions of Hamas and Rafah, which is the last bastion,” declared Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in an interview with ABC News which will be broadcast on Sunday February 11 and excerpts of which were broadcast on Saturday evening. Hamas fears “tens of thousands of deaths” among the civilian population in this town in the south of the Gaza Strip, bordering Egypt.
More than 1.3 million Palestinians live in Rafah according to the UN, the vast majority of whom are civilians who have fled the war between Israel and Hamas since the October 7 terrorist attacks. Benjamin Netanyahu, who on Wednesday ordered the preparation of a military operation in the city, declared on Saturday that the population will benefit from a “secure passage” to leave. Follow our live stream.
The fear of a “massacre” of civilians. Hamas, in power in the Gaza Strip, warned “against a catastrophe and a massacre which could result in tens of thousands of martyrs and wounded.” The Israeli operation arouses concern abroad and in particular in Saudi Arabia, whose diplomacy warned on Saturday “very serious repercussions” on the civilian population of an assault on Rafah. “The continued violation of international law and international humanitarian law confirms the need for an urgent meeting of the UN Security Council to prevent Israel from causing a humanitarian catastrophe”adds the Riyadh press release.
A tunnel under the UNRWA headquarters. The Israeli army and internal security agency said on Saturday they had discovered a Hamas tunnel in Gaza City under the headquarters of the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA). The organization, which Israel accuses of being “totally infiltrated” by the Islamist movement, stressed that the building had been evacuated on October 12. “We have not used this building since we left it and we are not aware of any activity that may have taken place there.”wrote on X the head of Unrwa, Philippe Lazzarini, adding that Israel’s accusations “deserve an independent investigation.”
Strikes on Rafah. New Israeli strikes targeted Rafah on Saturday, killing five police officers, according to Palestinian security sources. The Israeli army said two senior military officials from the Palestinian Islamist movement had been killed in one of these strikes.