Israel Intensifies Airstrikes on Gaza's Rafah Before Ground Operation

25 April 2024, Palestinian Territories, Rafah: Palestinians inspect a house that was destroyed following an Israeli airstrike. Photo: Abed Rahim Khatib/dpa
25 April 2024, Palestinian Territories, Rafah: Palestinians inspect a house that was destroyed following an Israeli airstrike. Photo: Abed Rahim Khatib/dpa
TT

Israel Intensifies Airstrikes on Gaza's Rafah Before Ground Operation

25 April 2024, Palestinian Territories, Rafah: Palestinians inspect a house that was destroyed following an Israeli airstrike. Photo: Abed Rahim Khatib/dpa
25 April 2024, Palestinian Territories, Rafah: Palestinians inspect a house that was destroyed following an Israeli airstrike. Photo: Abed Rahim Khatib/dpa

Israel stepped up airstrikes on Rafah overnight after saying it would evacuate civilians from the southern Gazan city and launch an all-out assault despite allies' warnings this could cause mass casualties.
Medics in the besieged Palestinian enclave reported five Israeli airstrikes on Rafah early on Thursday that hit at least three houses, killing at least six people including a local journalist.
In the seventh month of a devastating air and ground war against Hamas, Israeli forces also resumed bombarding northern and central areas of the enclave, as well as east of Khan Younis in the south.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's war cabinet was holding meetings "to discuss how to destroy the last vestiges, the last quarter of Hamas' battalions, in Rafah and elsewhere," government spokesperson David Mencer said.
He declined to say when or whether the classified forum might give a green light for a ground operation in Rafah.
Israeli warplanes had hammered the north for a second day on Wednesday, shattering weeks of comparative calm there.
The war, now in its seventh month, has killed at least 34,305 Palestinians, Gaza health authorities said on Thursday. The offensive has laid to waste much of the densely populated and widely urbanized enclave, displacing most of its 2.3 million people and leaving many with little food, water or medical care.
Escalating Israeli warnings about invading Rafah, the last refuge for around a million civilians who fled Israeli forces further north earlier in the war, have nudged some families to leave for the nearby al-Mawasi coastal area or try to make their way to points further north, residents and witnesses said.
But the number of displaced people departing Rafah, abutting Gaza's southern border with Egypt, remained small. Many were confused over where they should go, saying their experience over the past 200 days of war had taught them that no place was genuinely safe.

Western countries, including the United States, have pleaded with Israel to hold back from attacking the city, saying this could cause a humanitarian disaster given the presence of many displaced people with only rudimentary shelter and little food or access to medical care.



Arab League: Gaza ‘Is Not for Sale’

Abu Al-Gheit during the meeting of the Economic and Social Council (Arab League)
Abu Al-Gheit during the meeting of the Economic and Social Council (Arab League)
TT

Arab League: Gaza ‘Is Not for Sale’

Abu Al-Gheit during the meeting of the Economic and Social Council (Arab League)
Abu Al-Gheit during the meeting of the Economic and Social Council (Arab League)

The Arab League has reiterated its firm opposition to any attempts to displace Palestinians. Secretary-General Ahmed Aboul Gheit declared on Thursday that Gaza “is not for sale” and called for an “emergency relief plan” to support the Palestinian people.

Speaking at the opening session of the 115th ministerial meeting of the Economic and Social Council at the Arab League headquarters in Cairo, Aboul Gheit emphasized the fast-moving developments in the Arab region.

He condemned Israel’s ongoing expansionist policies in the West Bank and the repositioning of its military forces, as well as rising calls from Israeli and American voices advocating for the forced displacement of Palestinians.

He reaffirmed the Arab League’s unwavering stance, rejecting any attempts to remove Palestinians from their land under any pretext.

The Arab official also warned that such actions constitute a clear violation of international law, an infringement on Palestinian rights, and a direct threat to the Palestinian cause, which he described as “the central issue of the Arab world.”

“Gaza is not for sale,” Aboul Gheit stated. “For Palestinians and Arab nations alike, it is an inseparable part of the future Palestinian state based on the 1967 borders, alongside the West Bank, with no separation between them, in line with the internationally recognized two-state solution.”

Palestinian Minister of Economy Mohammed Al-Amour also said: “Any talk of displacing our people from Gaza or the West Bank is nothing but an illusion that has no place in reality.”

He praised the steadfast Arab position in rejecting any attempts to undermine the Palestinian cause, stating: “Gaza will not break, and Palestine will never surrender.”

Al-Amour also commended Saudi Arabia, Egypt, and Jordan for their firm stance against forced displacement and their support for Palestinian statehood.

“Our people are not excess baggage, nor can they be forcibly removed,” he asserted. “Palestine is neither for sale nor for trade.”

The Economic and Social Council meeting comes amid widespread regional and international condemnation of US President Donald Trump’s proposal to “take control of Gaza” and transform it into what he described as the “Middle East Riviera.”

His plan also suggested that Egypt and Jordan should accept Palestinian refugees from Gaza—an idea that Cairo and Amman have repeatedly rejected, viewing it as an attempt to erase the Palestinian cause.

Regarding the situation in Gaza, Aboul Gheit stressed the need for continued and effective Arab action on all international and regional fronts—politically, economically, and socially—to mitigate the devastating consequences of Israeli crimes.

He stated that Israel’s war, which began in October 2023, has yet to reveal its full toll. “Beyond the human losses, this is the costliest war in every sense. The material devastation is immense, and the psychological scars left on the Arab consciousness will take years to heal,” he said.

Aboul Gheit urged the Economic and Social Council to adopt emergency relief plans to support the Palestinian people. He also called for clear mechanisms to ensure the coordinated and comprehensive implementation of these plans, as well as the effective management of Arab aid efforts.