Palestinians looking at the destruction after an Israeli airstrike in Rafah,Gaza Strip.Credit:AP
Many Palestinians in Rafah came from Gaza City and other parts of the north and want to return there. But so far,Israel has shown no willingness to allow a mass movement back north,where it says its troops largely have operational control but still fight pockets of Hamas fighters.
Egypt has staunchly refused any mass exodus of Palestinians onto its soil,fearing Israel will not allow them to return. Israel is not likely to let hundreds of thousands of Palestinians take shelter on its own territory.
A large area of empty dunes between the town of Rafah and the sea is now built up with a dense tent city erected by those streaming in over the past month.
When winter rains hit,the area turns to cold mud,seeping into tents full of extended families with children. Women hang up bedding on clothes lines in the morning to keep them dry during the day,then lay them on the ground at night to sleep.
In Rafah town itself,the main squares and streets are full of tents. Other families fill classrooms at UN schools or crowd with relatives in apartments. Everyone is hungry and sick;colds,coughs and intestinal disorders run rampant. Even simple medicines are difficult to find,requiring an hours long wait at the pharmacy.
The supply chain for everything from canned food and flour to diapers comes almost entirely from the trickle of aid trucks that Israel allows into Gaza for distribution by the UN and other humanitarian groups. Large impromptu outdoor markets packed with people fill main avenues as many sell parts of allotments they receive.
With such a limited supply,prices have skyrocketed. A chocolate bar that once went for the equivalent of 50 US cents now costs $US5;a single egg can cost nearly $US1.
Groups of young men can sometimes be seen hanging around intersections,waiting for aid trucks to pass. They leap on the back and slash the ropes with knives to pull off bags of flour – to sell or give to their families.
Pressure is mounting on Israel over its threat to launch a ground assault on Rafah,the last refuge for hundreds of thousands of Palestinians.Credit:AP
UN officials say 90 per cent of Gaza’s population is eating less than one meal a day,and a quarter of the population faces outright famine,mainly in the north,where Israeli restrictions have blocked many aid convoys.
Rafah is the heart of the aid campaign,with trucks entering from Egypt or from a nearby Israeli crossing for distribution across the Gaza Strip.
“Any large-scale military operation among this population can only lead to additional layers of endless tragedy,” Philippe Lazzarini,head of UNRWA,the main agency leading the humanitarian effort said.
Israel has vowed to eliminate Hamas throughout the Gaza Strip after the group’s October 7 attack on southern Israel,in which some 1200 people were killed and the militants abducted some 250 hostages – over 100 of whom remain in captivity. Netanyahu said this week that preparations were underway for the military to move on Rafah,though he did not say when.
“We are on the way to an absolute victory,” he said. “There is no other solution.”
The Israeli onslaught has killed nearly 28,000 Palestinians and left much of northern Gaza a devastated wasteland. For weeks,fighting has focused on central Gaza and the southern city of Khan Younis,where bombardment and ground fighting has wreaked similar destruction.
In recent days,Israeli bombardment of Rafah has escalated. On Friday,strikes levelled two buildings,killing at least eight,including three children and a woman.
In the tent city,Najah Hasheasho said the wooden frame draped with plastic that her family lives in shakes every time a blast hits the area.
“We want to go back to Gaza City. That’s our home,” she said.
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A neighbour in the camp,Nahed Abu Asi,said that like many,he believes Israel wants to push the population into Egypt permanently.
“We won’t go into Egypt,” he said. “We’ll make our way back to Gaza City and die there – or in any place on the soil of Gaza.”
AP,Reuters