By Janet Ekstract ISTANBUL- Late Friday, Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu ordered the Israeli military to ready evacuation of 1 million Palestinians from Rafah on the Egyptian border, in preparation for an attack on the region. On Thursday, President Biden conceded that Israel’s response in Gaza has been “over the top,” with his administration rejecting any attack on Rafah without proper planning. U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres warned that any attack on Rafah would have regional repercussions especially with at least 1.5 million Palestinians sheltering there because no other safe places existed in the Gaza Strip. Netanyahu requested his military present a plan to evacuate the population in Rafah as well as a plan to “collapse” Hamas. The Israeli PM claims he will root out Hamas from Rafah but the chance of major repercussions on millions who must be evacuated is uncertain. The question now remains where will 1.5 million Palestinians be evacuated to? Egypt has said moving Palestinians across its borders is unacceptable while the rest of the Gaza Strip remains virtually uninhabitable especially since no aid has been permitted in since at least mid-January.
Meanwhile, Israel bombed targets in Gaza early Friday, hours after Biden officials and aid agencies warned Netanyahu against expanding his attacks in Rafah. There were reports of airstrikes overnight and into Friday that hit two residential buildings and a kindergarten being used as a shelter for displaced Palestinians. State Department spokesperson Vedant Patel warned on Thursday that “We have yet to see any evidence of serious planning for such an operation.” He said with over a million people in that area that if Israel strikes, it will be a “disaster.” National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby commented that a ground offensive in Gaza is “not something that we would support.” Aid agency officials said that Gaza’s last standing hospitals, markets and water systems are necessary for people to survive otherwise there is the risk of losing more children with hunger and disease intensifying. Egypt had warned Israel that any attacks on the Rafah border or mass displacement of Palestinians would risk severing Egypt and Israel’s 40-year peace treaty.
Photo : AA
