The Israeli military launched a ground operation in the Gaza Strip on Sunday, urging Palestinians to flee an attack on the city of Rafah, nearly a week after an attack on the Hamas-ruled territory.
The Israeli military has redeployed its military forces to parts of Gaza after deadly attacks in Lebanon and missile strikes from Yemen. The latest warning comes despite the Israeli military calling for a renewed ceasefire in January.
Military spokesman Avichay Adraee said in a statement released on XM that the army had “launched an attack on terrorist organizations” in a district of the southern city of Rafah. According to an AFP correspondent, in a message also seen on leaflets dropped by drones in the area, Adrai called on Palestinians there to leave the “dangerous militant zone” of the Tal al-Sultan district and head north.
At a charity kitchen in Khan Younis, the main city in southern Gaza, 19-year-old Iman al-Bardawil said many displaced Palestinians were struggling to “afford food and drink.” “We are in the month of Ramadan. It is a holy month and people are forced to come here as refugees,” Bardawil told AFP, expressing sadness at the suffering he saw around him.
“I came here to buy rice for the children, but I was forced to flee without doing that,” said Said Abu al-Jidyan, who fled his home in northern Gaza like Bardwil.
Death of top Hamas official
Ahead of its new offensive, Israel blocked humanitarian aid and cut electricity supplies to war-torn Gaza in early March. This forced Hamas to accept Israeli conditions for an extension of the ceasefire and the release of 58 hostages held by Palestinian militants since the October 7, 2023, attack.
Israel-supplied electricity supports the desalination plant, Gaza’s main source of water, and the decision to cut power has exacerbated an already dire situation for Gaza’s 2.4 million people. The Israeli military said it had begun mobilizing troops “to target Hamas fighters in the Beit Hanoun area of northern Gaza and expand the security zone in northern Gaza.”
On Friday, Defense Minister Israel Katz said he had ordered the army to seize more territory in Gaza, warning that Israel could seize Gaza if Hamas did not heed Israel’s demand for another step in the Gaza ceasefire.
Hamas has accused Israel of “sacrificing” the hostages by bombing them again, while many of the prisoners’ families have called for a renewed ceasefire, and many of those released alive have expressed outrage at what they say was done during the ceasefire. “Fighter aircraft struck several Hamas targets and terrorist structures,” a military statement issued in northern Gaza said on Sunday.
