Israel's army 'moving ahead' to attack Rafah

The Israeli army is gearing up for an operation in Rafah that involves "the evacuation of a substantial number of residents," according to Tel Aviv's public broadcaster KAN, citing undisclosed Israeli military sources.

"According to the army's plan, more than 1 million Palestinians in Rafah will be asked to evacuate the area to shelters recently established in the southern and central parts of the Gaza Strip," said the Kan's correspondent Itay Blumenthal.

Blumenthal said that according to the strategy presented to the U.S. and unnamed states in Israel's Rafah, the army's offensive into Rafah "will proceed in stages" in Rafah – that is only spared city where millions of Gazans take refuge. 

Refah points out as the last refuge for 1.4 million Palestinian civilians forcibly displaced in the south of the Gaza Strip. Israel asserted the southern part of the Gaza Strip was secure at the outset of the war in Gaza and had urged displaced civilians to migrate south.

More than 34,000 civilians, mostly women and children, have lost their lives in Israel's assaults on the Gaza Strip since Oct. 7. It is feared that if the Israeli military launches a ground operation in Rafah, thousands more will lose their lives.

Source: Newsroom