Explainer: Israeli assault on Gaza city of Rafah: what we know so far
Explainer: Israeli assault on Gaza city of Rafah: what we know so far
Israel launches strikes on eastern Rafah amid confusion over ceasefire negotiations; tanks reportedly seen on outskirts of city
Israel carried out airstrikes in eastern Rafah after issuing orders for the evacuation of 100,000 Palestinians from part of the city earlier on Monday, triggering an exodus of thousands of people. The Israeli military said late on Monday it was conducting targeted strikes against Hamas in Rafah, where 1.4 million Palestinian civilians are sheltering.
There were reports of Israeli tanks being seen on the eastern outskirts of Rafah and a Palestinian security official and an Egyptian official said they had reached as close as 200 metres from Rafah’s crossing with neighbouring Egypt. The Axios news site cited unnamed sources as saying Israeli forces planned to take over the Palestinian side of the Rafah crossing, the sole gateway between Egypt and Gaza for humanitarian supplies and people. The Guardian could not independently verify that report.
Palestinian hospital officials said one strike on a house in Rafah late Monday killed five Palestinians, including a woman and a girl. Twenty-two people including two babies and other children were killed in earlier strikes on Monday.
The strikes came as Hamas said it had agreed to a Gaza ceasefire proposal from mediators. Hamas said in a brief statement that its chief, Ismail Haniyeh, had informed Qatari and Egyptian mediators that the group accepted their proposal for a ceasefire, prompting initial celebrations from Palestinian civilians in Gaza.
However, Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said that the truce proposal fell short of Israel’s demands and that his war cabinet had approved continuing an operation in Rafah. Netanyahu’s office said Israel would still send a delegation to meet with negotiators to try to reach an agreement. Qatar’s foreign ministry said its delegation would head to Cairo on Tuesday.
One Israeli official said it was unclear exactly which proposal Hamas was accepting, as some of the terms appeared to differ substantially from those shown by mediators to Israel and agreed by the Israeli government last week. “[We] don’t recognise some,” the official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said.
Hundreds of Israelis converged on the main military headquarters in Tel Aviv calling for a deal. Smaller gatherings were reported in Jerusalem and other cities across Israel. “Hamas’s announcement must pave the way for the return of the 132 hostages held captive by Hamas for the past seven months. Now is the time for all that are involved to fulfil their commitment and turn this opportunity into a deal for the return of all the hostages,” a statement from the Hostages and Missing Families Forum said.
US president Joe Biden urged Netanyahu not to launch an offensive in Rafah, the White House said. The leaders’ call occurred before Hamas announced it had accepted a ceasefire proposal. Biden told Netanyahu he still believes reaching a ceasefire with Hamas is the best way to protect the lives of Israeli hostages held in Gaza, officials said.
Biden also hosted King Abdullah II of Jordan for a private lunch meeting at the White House on Monday to discuss the war and hostage talks. Jordan’s embassy in Washington said in a posting on the social media site X following the leaders’ meeting that Abdullah warned that an Israeli operation on Rafah “threatens to lead to a new massacre.”
US officials familiar with the matter said a briefing by Israeli officials last week on a plan to evacuate Palestinian civilians ahead of a potential Rafah operation had not changed the US administration’s view that moving forward with an operation would put too many innocent Palestinian civilians at risk. Pentagon press secretary Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder said defence secretary Lloyd Austin had previously stressed with Israeli defence minister Yoav Gallant that Israel needed a “credible plan” to evacuate those civilians.
Separately a US official said the US was “concerned” about Israel’s latest strikes on Rafah, but “does not believe they represent a major military operation,” Reuters reported. US officials are focused on prevent major military operations targeting “densely populated” areas of Rafah, the source added, and that it “does not appear the Israelis are doing that”.
Saudi Arabia reacted furiously to Israel’s Rafah evacuation order, describing Israel’s war in Gaza as a “genocide”. A Saudi foreign ministry statement warned of the “dangers of the Israeli occupation forces targeting the city of Rafah as part of its systematic bloody campaign to storm all areas of the Gaza Strip and displace its residents towards the unknown”.
UN secretary general António Guterres reiterated “my urgent call to the Israeli government & Hamas leadership to come to an agreement & stop the suffering.” In a post on X he said he was “deeply concerned by indications that a large-scale military operation in Rafah may be imminent”.