CAIRO/JERUSALEM/GAZA, (Reuters) – Talks involving the U.S., Egypt, Israel and Qatar on a Gaza truce ended without a breakthrough yesterday as calls grew for Israel to hold back on a planned assault on the southern end of the enclave, crammed with over a million displaced people.
The city of Rafah, whose pre-war population was about 300,000, teems with homeless people living in tent camps and makeshift shelters who fled there from Israeli bombardments in areas of Gaza farther north during more than four months of war.
Israel says it wants to flush out Hamas militants from hideouts in Rafah and free Israeli hostages being held there. Its military is making plans to evacuate Palestinian civilians. But no plan has been forthcoming and aid agencies say the displaced have nowhere else to go in the shattered territory.
With Palestinians in Rafah “staring death in the face,” United Nations aid chief Martin Griffiths said an Israeli ground invasion there would make humanitarian relief nearly impossible.
“Military operations in Rafah could lead to a slaughter in Gaza. They could also leave an already fragile humanitarian operation at death’s door,” Griffiths said in a statement.
Israeli tanks shelled the eastern sector of Rafah overnight, causing waves of panic, residents said.
They said displaced people – dozens so far – had begun to leave Rafah after Israeli shelling and air strikes in recent days.
“Last night in Rafah was very tough. We’re going back to Al-Maghazi out of fear – displaced from one area to another,” said Nahla Jarwan, referring to the coastal refugee camp from which she fled earlier in the conflict. “Wherever we go, there is no safety.”
Rafah neighbours Egypt, but Cairo has made clear it will not allow a refugee exodus over the border.
Gaza health officials announced 133 new Palestinian deaths in the past 24 hours, bringing the total to 28,473 killed and 68,146 wounded since Oct. 7, when 1,200 people were killed in a Hamas rampage across the border into Israel, triggering the war.
Many other people are believed to be buried under rubble of destroyed buildings across the densely populated Gaza Strip, much of which is in ruins. Supplies of food, water and other essentials are running out and diseases are spreading.
About half of Gaza’s 2.3 million people are now squeezed into Rafah.
“Since Israel said they are invading Rafah soon…, we read our last prayers every night. Every night we say farewell to one another and to relatives outside Rafah,” said Aya, 30, who is living in a tent with her mother, grandmother and five siblings.
