Palestinians Brace for Rafah Evacuation, Israeli Assault Plan

Displaced Palestinians, who fled their houses due to Israeli strikes, take shelter in a tent camp - Reuters
Displaced Palestinians, who fled their houses due to Israeli strikes, take shelter in a tent camp - Reuters
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Palestinians Brace for Rafah Evacuation, Israeli Assault Plan

Displaced Palestinians, who fled their houses due to Israeli strikes, take shelter in a tent camp - Reuters
Displaced Palestinians, who fled their houses due to Israeli strikes, take shelter in a tent camp - Reuters

Trapped in and around Rafah, more than 1 million Palestinians braced for Israel to complete a plan to evacuate them and launch a ground assault against Hamas fighters in the southern Gaza city.
Aid agencies warned that large numbers of civilians could die in the Israeli offensive and the UN Palestinian refugee agency said it did not know how long it could work "in such a high risk operation."
"There is a sense of growing anxiety, growing panic in Rafah," said Philippe Lazzarini, the head of the UNRWA agency. "People have no idea where to go."
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office on Friday announced that the military was ordered to develop a plan "for evacuating the population and destroying" four Hamas battalions that it said were deployed in Rafah.
Israel cannot achieve its goal of eliminating the Hamas militants who rule Gaza while those units remain, it said.
The statement, issued two days after Netanyahu rejected a Hamas ceasefire proposal, opens new tab that included the release of hostages held by the Palestinian militants, gave no further details.

Washington, Israel's main supporter, said it would not back an assault that did not protect civilians, and had briefed Israel on a new US national security memorandum reminding countries receiving US arms to adhere to international law.
"There are no new standards in this memo. We are not imposing new standards for military aid," White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters. "They (the Israelis) reiterated their willingness to provide these types of assurances."
More than a million people driven southwards by more than four months of Israeli bombing of Gaza are packed into Rafah and surrounding areas on the coastal enclave's border with Egypt, which has reinforced the frontier, fearing an exodus.
Doctors and aid workers are struggling to supply even basic aid to Palestinians sheltering around Rafah.
Israeli forces have been moving southwards towards the city after first storming northern Gaza in response to the Oct. 7 rampage into southern Israel by Hamas gunmen.
The United Nations said Palestinian civilians in Rafah, opens new tab require protection, but there should be no forced mass displacement, which is barred by international law.
"No war can be allowed in a gigantic refugee camp," said Jan Egeland, secretary-general of the Norwegian Refugee Council, warning of a "bloodbath" if Israeli troops move into Rafah.
The Palestinian Presidency said Netanyahu's plans aimed to displace the Palestinian people from their land.
"Taking this step threatens security and peace in the region and the world. It crosses all red lines," said the office of Mahmoud Abbas, head of the Palestinian Authority that exerts partial self-rule in the Israeli-occupied West Bank.
An Israeli official who declined to be named said that Israel would try to organize for people in Rafah, most of whom fled there from the north, to be moved back northwards ahead of any assault.
Gaza's health ministry said at least 27,947 Palestinians had been confirmed killed in the conflict and 67,459 injured. More could be buried under rubble.
Almost one in 10 Gazans under the age of five are now acutely malnourished, according to initial UN data from arm measurements showing physical wasting.
The charity ActionAid said some Gazans were eating grass.
"Every single person in Gaza is now hungry, and people have just 1.5 to 2 litres of unsafe water per day to meet all their needs," it said.



As Sudan's Army Retakes Ground, Some Displaced Residents Return to Ravaged Capital

Plumes of smoke rise during clashes between the Rapid Support Forces and the army in Khartoum, Sudan, September 26, 2024. REUTERS/Stringer/File Photo
Plumes of smoke rise during clashes between the Rapid Support Forces and the army in Khartoum, Sudan, September 26, 2024. REUTERS/Stringer/File Photo
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As Sudan's Army Retakes Ground, Some Displaced Residents Return to Ravaged Capital

Plumes of smoke rise during clashes between the Rapid Support Forces and the army in Khartoum, Sudan, September 26, 2024. REUTERS/Stringer/File Photo
Plumes of smoke rise during clashes between the Rapid Support Forces and the army in Khartoum, Sudan, September 26, 2024. REUTERS/Stringer/File Photo

The morning sun cast long shadows as Abdulilah Mohamed, an elderly resident of the Shambat neighborhood in the Sudanese capital Khartoum, returned to his family home after fleeing from civil war.

The streets, now strewn with debris and remnants of conflict, led him to a structure barely standing after two years of fighting between the Sudanese army and the Rapid Support Forces.

"They left nothing behind, they took everything and destroyed everything," he lamented, referring to the RSF as he stood amid the broken walls of his house and the fragments of his family's belongings.

"I came here specifically to assess the situation and see the life, so that my family doesn't come and get confused about what to do. I came first, and then I can evaluate the situation for them here," he added.

Mohamed is one of millions who once lived in the greater capital area, which includes the cities of Khartoum, Omdurman, and Bahri, and were forced to flee when war broke out in April 2023 amidst a power struggle between the army and the RSF ahead of a transition to civilian rule.

Entire neighborhoods in Khartoum were flattened, though some parts of Omdurman managed to retain access to utilities, Reuters reported.

Now, as the army pushes back RSF fighters and regains ground in the capital, a cautious trickle of residents is making the journey home.

Huda Ibrahim, who fled to Port Sudan - more than 800 km (500 miles) from the capital—said the longing to return had never faded.

"We were forced to stay away," she said, while on a bus en route to Khartoum.

Mohamed Ali, the driver, noted a shift in mood.

"You can sense that their sense of security has grown,” he told Reuters.

But for many, the road home is lined with uncertainty. This conflict has devastated the nation, claiming countless lives and displacing millions.

"Their war now is not a war against the government, it's a war against the citizens and destruction," Mohamed says.

The return of more residents hinges on the government's ability to rebuild.

Rayan Khaled, a young woman who returned from Egypt, highlights the lack of services and electricity as major obstacles.

"I believe that if the government could provide electricity to the people [...] everyone would return to their homes," she said.