Nearly 800,000 Palestinians have been displaced from Rafah since Israel launched its offensive against the southern Gaza city last week, said Philippe Lazzarini, head of the United Nations agency for Palestinian refugees, UNRWA.
Lazzarini lamented the repeated displacement of Palestinians in Saturday’s statement.
“Since the war in Gaza began, Palestinians have been forced to flee several times in search of safety they never found, including in UNRWA shelters,” Lazzarini said.
“When people move, they are exposed, without safe passage or protection. Each time, they are forced to leave behind the few belongings they have: mattresses, tents, kitchen utensils and basic supplies they cannot carry or pay to transport.
“Every time they have to start from scratch, all over again. ”
Saturday we saw intense fighting in Gaza – not just in Rafah – with Israeli attacks that killed dozens of Palestinians.
Gaza’s Health Ministry said earlier in the day that 83 Palestinians had been killed in the previous 24 hours.
Later on Saturday, Al Jazeera’s Arabic correspondent Ismail Alghoul reported that 40 bodies arrived at Kamal Adwan Hospital in northern Gaza after Israel bombed the Jabalia refugee camp. At least 15 people were killed in an attack.
Once again, almost half of Rafah’s population or 800,000 people are on the road, having been forced to flee since the Israeli Forces began the military operation in the area on May 6.
In response to evacuation orders requiring people to flee to so-called safe zones,…-Philippe Lazzarini (@UNLazzarini) May 18, 2024
The Wafa news agency also said four Palestinians were killed during Israeli shelling in Khan Younis, north of Rafah, and three others were killed in the Nuseirat refugee camp in central Gaza.
The violence across the territory underscores warnings from humanitarian advocates that there is nowhere safe for people in Rafah to flee.
Israel has faced international warnings, including from its main ally, the United States, against invading Rafah. But Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government appears to be ignoring these calls and pressing ahead with the attack.
Last week, Israeli forces seized the Rafah crossing, which connects Gaza to Egypt. The gate, which served as the main artery for vital aid and entry and exit point for aid workers, has been closed since May 7.
The closure of the Rafah crossing trapped thousands of sick and injured Palestinians who may have had the opportunity to leave Gaza to receive treatment abroad.
Before the attack began, Rafah was home to 1.5 million people, most of whom were displaced from other parts of Gaza.
Throughout the war, Israel ordered Palestinian civilians in Gaza to move south while it invaded the territory from the north.
Many residents were first displaced to the central part of the enclave and then to the southern city of Khan Younis. They were finally forced to flee again to Rafah. Now the people of Rafah are fleeing north.
Netanyahu portrayed Rafah as Hamas’ last stronghold in the territory. But as the Israeli army invades the city, fighting intensifies in Jabalia and the Zeitoun neighborhood of Gaza City, in the north of the enclave.
Israel said in January it had dismantled Hamas’ “military structure” in the north.
On Saturday, the Qassam Brigades, the military wing of Hamas, claimed several attacks against Israeli forces, including military vehicles with grenade launchers in Rafah and Jabalia. The group also said it killed 20 Israeli soldiers in two separate operations in Rafah.
In turn, the Israeli military announced that it had recovered the remains of Israeli captive Ron Binyamin, who they said was killed during the Hamas attack on October 7 in southern Israel.
Israel had said a day earlier that it had found the bodies of three other prisoners based on new intelligence.
But Hamas appeared to downplay the importance of the Israeli announcement.
“The enemy leadership is pushing its soldiers into the Gaza alley to return in coffins, so that they can search for the remains of some prisoners who [Israel] targeted and killed before,” Abu Obaida, spokesman for the Qassam Brigades, said in a statement.
This story originally appeared on Aljazeera.com read the full story
