Some Palestinian families were seen leaving areas east of Rafah on Monday after receiving evacuation orders from the Israeli military.
Israel’s military said on Monday it had begun encouraging residents of Rafah to evacuate the southern Gazan city as part of a ‘limited scope’ operation but did not immediately confirm media reports this was part of preparation for a ground assault.
“I left my home and fled, I did not take one thing with me, everything was left, my home is like a palace. I took clothes to change and left, I did not take one thing with me, nothing,” says a Rafah resident.
Displaced Palestinians living at a makeshift camp in Rafah said that they have nowhere to go after receiving evacuation orders from the Israeli military.
“The Israeli occupation told people to go to Rafah and that it is a safe area. Today, they’re telling us to get out of Rafah. Where will the people go? Where will all these crowds go? 1.5 million, or 2 million civilians, where will they go? Should they go to the sea? Where will people go after they told us that this is a safe area. They want to commit a genocide, this is what we understood,” says a distraught resident of Rafah.
A member of Gaza’s civil defence said on Monda Israel had targeted 10 buildings in Rafah city overnight.
“(We fled) death and destruction, and we came to Rafah only to find destruction here, do they want to kill us here? We came seeking safety in Rafah, where do they want to send us, where are we to go? The situation is so difficult, we’re unable to describe the destruction that we are living in here. Someone feel for us and the tragedy we are living through.”
A six-month-old infant was among several Palestinians who were killed in an Israeli strike in Rafah, his relatives said on Monday
“What has he done to deserve this? He still has not seen anything in the world. He does not know Jews (Israelis) or Arabs. He does not know anything – he doesn’t understand (the difference between) Jews (Israelis) or Arabs.”
Columns of smoke rose over Gaza as multiple explosions could be heard on Monday following reported air strikes by the Israeli army in eastern Rafah.
The Israeli military on Monday called on Palestinians in eastern parts of Rafah to move to a nearby humanitarian area in what appeared to be the beginning of a civilian evacuation ahead of a ground assault on the southern Gazan city.
Hamas released video on Sunday of what they said were missiles being fired in a rocket attack on the Kerem Shalom crossing into Gaza that Israel said killed three of its soldiers.
The caption with the video posted on Telegram by Hamas’ armed wing said it fired a ‘Rajum’ missile barrage at an Israeli army base by the crossing but did not confirm where it fired them from. Reuters was not able to independently verify the footage.
Israeli soldiers were checking tanks and moving around at border area near Kerem Shalom crossing between Israel and Gaza on Sunday.
Israelis stood still across the country on Monday as a siren wailed to mark the annual Holocaust Remembrance Day.
