\n
At least 21 people were killed during strikes in central Gaza – Copyright AFP –<\/small><\/em><\/p>\nIsrael launched strikes on Gaza Sunday after it expanded an evacuation order for Rafah, with the United Nations warning an outright invasion of the crowded southern city risked an \u201cepic\u201d disaster.<\/p>\n
Gaza\u2019s civil defence agency said two doctors were killed Sunday in the central town of Deir al-Balah, while AFP correspondents reported intense clashes and heavy gunfire from Israeli helicopters near Gaza City.<\/p>\n
Witnesses said Israel had carried out strikes in Rafah near the crossing with Egypt on Saturday, and AFP images showed smoke rising over the city.<\/p>\n
Israeli troops defied international opposition this week and entered eastern areas of the city, effectively shutting a key aid crossing and suspending traffic through another.<\/p>\n
Israel expanded an evacuation order for eastern Rafah, after saying 300,000 people had fled the city since the army urged people to leave earlier in the week.<\/p>\n
Residents piled water tanks, mattresses and other belongings onto vehicles and prepared to flee again.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe don\u2019t know where to go,\u201d said Farid Abu Eida, who was preparing to leave Rafah, having already been displaced there from Gaza City.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere is no place left in Gaza that is safe or not overcrowded\u2026 There\u2019s nowhere we can go.\u201d<\/p>\n
Residents were told to go to the \u201chumanitarian zone\u201d of Al-Mawasi, on the coast northwest of Rafah.<\/p>\n
Hamas accused Israel of \u201cexpanding the incursion into Rafah to include new areas in the centre and the west of the city\u201d.<\/p>\n
Israeli army spokesman Daniel Hagari said \u201cwe have eliminated dozens of terrorists in eastern Rafah\u201d and the army said troops were fighting \u201carmed terrorists\u201d at the crossing and had found \u201cnumerous underground tunnel shafts\u201d.<\/p>\n
UN chief Antonio Guterres said on Friday that Gaza risked an \u201cepic humanitarian disaster\u201d if Israel launched a full-scale ground operation in Rafah.<\/p>\n
Protests against Israel\u2019s war in Gaza spread to the Eurovision Song Contest in Sweden, where crowds gathered outside.<\/p>\n
In Tel Aviv, fans watched the music show on big screens, but as it became clear that Israel\u2019s contestant Eden Golan would not win, spirits fell.<\/p>\n
\u201cEden was amazing\u2026 But there are people who hate us,\u201d said Guy, a 20-year-old who declined to give his last name.<\/p>\n
\u2013 \u2018Unsafe zones\u2019 \u2013<\/p>\n
International outrage mounted at Israel\u2019s operations in Rafah.<\/p>\n
EU chief Charles Michel said on social media that Rafah civilians were being ordered to \u201cunsafe zones\u201d, denouncing it as \u201cunacceptable\u201d.<\/p>\n
Doctors Without Borders (MSF) said it had started transferring 22 patients from a field hospital in Rafah, saying Israel\u2019s operations in the city were \u201cmaking it impossible to provide lifesaving medical assistance\u201d.<\/p>\n
The war began with Hamas\u2019s unprecedented October 7 attack on Israel, which resulted in the deaths of more than 1,170 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally of Israeli official figures.<\/p>\n
During their attack, militants also seized hostages. Israel estimates 128 of them remain in Gaza including 36 who the military says are dead.<\/p>\n
Israel\u2019s retaliatory offensive has killed at least 34,971 people in Gaza, mostly women and children, according to the Hamas-run territory\u2019s health ministry.<\/p>\n
\u2013 Truce hopes fade \u2013<\/p>\n
While mediation efforts towards a truce and hostage release appeared to stall, Hamas\u2019s armed wing said a hostage who appeared in a video it released on Saturday had died from wounds suffered in an Israeli strike.<\/p>\n
The Ezzedine Al-Qassam Brigades said Nadav Popplewell, a British-Israeli man, had been wounded in a strike a month ago and died \u201cbecause he did not receive intensive medical care because the enemy has destroyed the Gaza Strip\u2019s hospitals\u201d.<\/p>\n
The Israeli military did not offer any comment on the video and AFP was unable to independently verify its authenticity.<\/p>\n
US President Joe Biden said on Saturday a ceasefire would be achieved \u201ctomorrow\u201d if Hamas released the hostages.<\/p>\n
A US State Department report on Friday said it was \u201creasonable to assess\u201d that Israel had violated norms on international law in its use of weapons from the United States, but did not find enough evidence to block shipments.<\/p>\n
The State Department submitted its report two days after Biden publicly threatened to withhold certain bombs and artillery shells if Israel went ahead with an all-out assault on Rafah, where the UN says 1.4 million have been sheltering.<\/p>\n
The Biden administration already paused delivery of 3,500 bombs as Israel appeared ready to invade Rafah.<\/p>\n
Hamas says Israel\u2019s \u201ccontinued control\u201d and closure of the Rafah crossing exacerbates the \u201chumanitarian catastrophe\u201d in the besieged territory.<\/p>\n
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has pledged to \u201celiminate\u201d Hamas battalions in Rafah after the army in January said it had dismantled the militant group\u2019s command structure in northern Gaza.<\/p>\n
The Israeli army said it had reopened the Kerem Shalom crossing near Rafah on Wednesday, but aid agencies cautioned that getting assistance through the militarised area remained extremely difficult.<\/p>\n
The army said Saturday that rockets had been fired at the crossing, but reported no injuries.<\/p>\n
Egypt\u2019s state-linked Al-Qahera News on Saturday cited a high-level source as saying that Egypt had refused to coordinate with Israel on the entry of aid into Gaza from the Rafah crossing.<\/p>\n
According to the source, Egypt had \u201cwarned Israel of the repercussions of its continued control over the Rafah crossing, and held it fully responsible for the deterioration of the humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip\u201d.<\/p>\n
burs-mca\/dhw<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n
Israel strikes Gaza after fresh Rafah evacuation order
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#Israel #strikes #Gaza #fresh #Rafah #evacuation #order<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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