At least 25 Gazans died this morning in Israeli bombings on Rafah, the southern tip of the Gaza Strip where more than a million displaced people live, and the Israeli ground troops are expected to advance there soon.
“Medical sources reported that 25 citizens were killed and others injured when the occupation bombed houses in central and northern Rafah since last night,” the official Palestinian Wafa agency said.
The agency also noted that Israeli warships, stationed in the Mediterranean, “fire intensively” against the coast of the Rafah governorate.
Yesterday Israel announced the development of a plan to expand its military offensive to Rafah, on the border with Egypt, although it assures that the deployment will include the prior evacuation of civilians.
“It is impossible to achieve the war goal of eliminating Hamas and leaving four battalions in Rafah,” said a statement from the Israeli Prime Minister’s Office.
The Israeli attacks on Rafah, where 1.3 million Palestinians – five times its usual population – survive in overcrowded conditions, have increased in recent days and with it the fear of a ground offensive by the Israeli Army in this area, an option that is already is certain after yesterday’s announcement.
While waiting for the ground incursion to extend to Rafah, Israel intensifies its military operations in Khan Younis, a Hamas stronghold in the south of the Strip where it has been on an offensive in the area for more than two months, which is now concentrated in the west of the city.
There, Israeli forces have kept the two main hospitals, Naser and Al Amal, under siege for 20 days, where yesterday Israeli soldiers stormed inside.
According to the organization, Israeli soldiers stormed the hospital for about ten hours, during which they “searched the hospital, destroyed some devices, equipment and furniture, detained staff, interrogated them, beat and insulted them, and prevented staff and patients from patients’ companions to drink water or use the bathroom.
The Red Crescent also accused the Israeli Army of stealing money from the organization, employees, patients and companions; in addition to confiscating the computers and wireless communication devices of the rescue teams, which are the only reliable means of communication in the face of the continuous interruption of communications in the Khan Yunis governorate.
The surroundings of the Al Amal hospital have been the scene of attacks and combats in recent days, which even prevented the movement of ambulances to transport the wounded; and that forced the evacuation of more than 8,000 Gazans who were evacuated in the building.
A similar situation exists at the Naser hospital, which houses some 10,000 displaced people, 300 health workers and 450 wounded and sick.
Almost 28,000 Gazans have died in more than 4 months of war, in addition to some 8,000 bodies missing under the rubble, and some 67,500 were injured, according to the Strip’s Ministry of Health.
