Israeli strikes on Rafah escalate fears of Gaza ground operation after Netanyahu orders military to ‘prepare to operate’
- The air strikes came after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ordered his troops to “prepare to operate” in the southern border city
- The US State Department said it does not support a ground offensive in Rafah, warning that, if not properly planned, such an operation risks ‘disaster’
Israeli air strikes pummelled densely crowded Rafah on Saturday after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ordered his troops to “prepare to operate” in the southern border city that has become a last refuge for displaced Palestinians.
Netanyahu’s planned offensive on Rafah, where an estimated 1.3 million people have fled, has drawn condemnation from rights groups and Washington, while Palestinians have said they have nowhere left to retreat.
Witnesses reported new strikes on Rafah early on Saturday, after the Israeli military intensified air raids, with fears rising among Palestinians of a coming ground invasion.
“We don’t know where to go,” said Mohammad al-Jarrah, a Palestinian who was displaced from further north to Rafah.
The city is the last major population centre in the Gaza Strip that Israeli troops have yet to enter and also the main point of entry for desperately needed relief supplies.
Netanyahu told military officials on Friday to “submit to the cabinet a combined plan for evacuating the population and destroying the battalions” of Hamas militants holed up in Rafah, his office said.
