Israel says it plans to direct Palestinians out of Rafah

The Israeli military said on Wednesday it plans to direct a significant portion of the 14 million displaced Palestinians living in the Gaza Strips southernmost town of Rafah toward humanitarian islands in the centre of the territory ahead of its planned offensive in the areaThe fate of the people in Rafah has been a major area of concern of Israels allies including the United States and humanitarian groups worried an offensive in the region densely crowded with so many displaced people would be a catastrophe Rafah is also Gazas main entry point for desperately needed aidIsraeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said a Rafah offensive is crucial to achieve Israels stated aim of destroying Hamas following the militants October 7 attack in which about 1200 people mostly civilians were killed and around 250 taken hostage and brought into Gaza Israels invasion of Gaza has killed more than 31000 according to Gaza health officials left much of the enclave in ruins and displaced some 80 per cent of Gazas 23 million peopleIsraels chief military spokesman Rear Adm Daniel Hagari said moving those in Rafah to the designated areas which he said would be done in coordination with international actors was a key part of the militarys preparations for its anticipated invasion of Rafah where Israel says Hamas maintains four battalions it wants to destroyRafah has swelled in size in the last months as Palestinians in Gaza have fled fighting in nearly every other corner of the territory The town is covered in tents We need to make sure that 14 million people or at least a significant amount of the 14 million will move Where To humanitarian islands that we will create with the international community Hagari told reporters at a briefingHagari said those islands would provide temporary housing food water and other necessities to evacuated Palestinians He did not say when Rafahs evacuation would occur nor when the Rafah offensive would begin saying that Israel wanted the timing to be right operationally and to be coordinated with neighbouring Egypt which has said it does not want an influx of displaced Palestinians crossing its borderThe US has been firm with Israel over its concerns about Rafah and Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Wednesday that Washington had yet to receive from Israel its plans for civilians there We need to see a plan that will get civilians out of harms way if theres a military operation in Rafah he told reporters in Washington after convening a virtual ministerial meeting on Gaza aid with officials from the UN the EU Britain Cyprus Qatar and the UAE Weve not yet seen such a planAt the start of the war Israel directed evacuees to a slice of undeveloped land along Gazas Mediterranean coast that it designated as a safe zone But aid groups said there were no real plans in place to receive large numbers of displaced there Israeli strikes also targeted the area More than 31270 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza and most of its 23 million people forced from their homes Gazas Health Ministry says The ministry doesnt differentiate between civilians and combatants in its count but says women and children make up twothirds of the deadIsrael blames the civilian death toll on Hamas because the militants fight in dense residential areas The military has said it has killed 13000 Hamas fighters without providing evidence Meanwhile fighting continued across Gaza An Israeli strike on Wednesday hit a food distribution site in southern Gaza run by UNRWA the UN agency that works with Palestinian refugees killing one staff member from the agency and wounding 22 othersThe death brings to 165 the number of workers for the agency killed during the past five months of fighting according to UNRWA Gazas health authorities said a total of five people were killed in the strike on the yard of an UNRWA warehouse Hagari said the army was looking into the reportThe conflict has sparked a humanitarian disaster that has led to growing hunger Aid delivery has been hobbled by Israeli restrictions the ongoing hostilities and the breakdown of order inside Gaza according to the United Nations Israel denies it is restricting the entry of aid The crisis has been particularly acute in northern Gaza Israels initial target in the early weeks of the warHagari said on Wednesday Israel plans to flood the area with aid with plans to scale up the entry of goods from multiple points in northern Gaza after half a dozen trucks delivered aid entered from the north on Tuesday as part of a pilot program He did not say how many more trucks were expected to enter and at what frequencyHagari also said representatives from the US military were expected in Israel this week to further coordinate a planned US floating pier that will be built off the coast of Gaza which he said would be significant for northern Gaza The US and other countries have also been airdropping food into northern Gaza in recent weeks to help alleviate the crisis Aid groups said air drops and bringing sea shipments are far less efficient and effective than bringing in food by truckThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever