Rafah Assault: Israeli forces pressed their assault on the border town – once seen as the territory’s last refuge – despite an order last week from the top UN court to halt its operation there.
At least 45 people, including children, were killed at a refugee camp in Gaza’s Rafah after an Israeli air strike. The incident, coming just days after the International Court of Justice ordered Israel to halt its operation in Rafah, triggered international outrage, deepening the global isolation facing Israel over the war in Gaza.
Israel launched the attack on Rafah late Sunday, hours after Hamas unleashed a barrage of rockets at the Tel Aviv area, most of which were intercepted.
Israeli forces pressed their assault on the border town – once seen as the territory’s last refuge – despite an order last week from the top UN court to halt its operation there.
All Eyes On Rafah
‘All eyes on Rafah’ is a phrase that refers to the ongoing genocide in this Gaza city. The phrase is trending on social media as global support poured in for the Palestinians affected by the Israeli strikes.
Several celebrities have shared support messages with the hashtag #AllEyesOnRafah. The phrase has picked up steam as a call for awareness of the ongoing war.
Rafah was a major entry point for humanitarian aid before Israel stepped up its military offensive on the Gaza side of the border earlier this month and seized control of the crossing.
Fighting in Rafah has caused more than 1 million Palestinians to flee, most of whom had already been displaced in the war between Israel and Hamas.
Palestinians say they are vulnerable to Israeli attacks wherever they go and have been moving up and down the Gaza Strip in the past few months.
When Israeli forces told those in the north to evacuate, before conducting operations in central Gaza and the southern city of Khan Yunis, hundreds of thousands had fled south to Rafah.
The health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza said in a statement that Israeli shelling in and around health facilities in Rafah has left just one still operational.
Humanitarian groups warn of a spiraling crisis in Gaza after the fighting in Rafah cut off the main aid routes into the territory.
Israel’s Long-Threatened Rafah Incursion
Rafah offensive stirred renewed outrage and prompted an outcry from global leaders. Israel, however, vowed to press on with the Rafah strike despite the global condemnation and a US warning.
The United Nations has long warned of looming famine, especially in the north of besieged Gaza. And since the Rafah incursion, the UN Chief, said he was becoming increasingly worried about malnutrition in the south.
The Israeli army claimed that their aircraft had targeted a Hamas compound in Rafah, resulting in the deaths of two senior Hamas operatives, Yassin Rabia and Khaled Nagar. They acknowledged reports of civilian casualties due to the strike and the subsequent fire, stating that the incident was under investigation.
The US faces growing pressure to take a firmer stance after a deadly strike in the Gazan city. Questions are mounting over how long President Joe Biden can tolerate an Israeli assault on Rafah when the International Court of Justice — the UN’s top court, of which both the US and Israel are members — ordered it to stop.
Gaza security officers said that Israeli tanks were now also “in central and southwest Rafah”.
The war in Gaza began after Hamas’s October 7 attack on southern Israel, which resulted in the deaths of more than 1,170 people, mostly civilians. Israel’s retaliatory offensive has killed at least 36,096 people in Gaza.
