Israel Is Bombing Rafah In Gaza, Where 1.4 Million Palestinians Are Trapped With Nowhere To Go
Rafah is now the most densely populated place on earth, with about 22,000 people per square kilometer.
Israel has now started bombing Rafah in southern Gaza, where 1.4 million Palestinians are trapped with nowhere to go.
Since Israel declared war on Hamas on Oct. 7, it has pushed 1.7 million Palestinians from their homes – that’s about 75% of Gaza’s population of 2.3 million.
About 1.4 million of them are now crammed into makeshift tents in Rafah at the border with Egypt, after Israel ordered them to evacuate there for their safety.
Rafah is now the most densely populated place on earth, with about 22,000 people per square kilometer.
On Feb. 7, Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced that Israel was going to invade Rafah, which he claimed was the “last stronghold of Hamas”.
The announcement was met with massive opposition by the UN, Egypt, and even the US, which is Israel’s closest ally.
However, Netanyahu defied their calls and declared on Saturday Feb. 10 that Israel was going ahead with a ground offensive in Rafah, saying that it was working on a plan to evacuate civilians.
It is unclear where 1.4 million Palestinians are supposed to go.
Israel has been intensely bombing the north of Gaza, and Palestinians can’t just enter Egypt.
Palestinians are also unable to leave Gaza and go elsewhere because Israel has generally banned them from leaving – even to go to Palestine’s occupied West Bank – since 2007, when it illegally put Gaza under a blockade.
Egypt’s president Abdel Fattah El-Sisi said on Wednesday Feb. 7 that Israel was attempting to forcibly expel Palestinians into Egypt.
Sisi has warned that this would threaten peace in the region, as well as set a precedent for Israel to forcibly expel Palestinians in the West Bank into Jordan.
Meanwhile, Netanyahu said on an interview with ABC News that Israel will provide “safe passage” to civilians wishing to leave Rafah.
When pressed about where they would go, he said that there’s “plenty of areas” Israel has cleared north of Rafah, adding that Israeli officials are working out a detailed plan.
