The ground invasion of Rafah is getting closer. Early this Monday the Israeli Army The forced evacuation of some 100,000 Palestinians from this city has begun located south of Gaza. After months of preparation, Israel seems determined to invade an area where 1.4 million Palestinians are concentrated after fleeing the northern Gaza Strip. The announcement comes after days of negotiations for a ceasefire that seemed close, but is now moving away. “It is a dangerous escalation that will have circumstances,” Hamas warned after learning of Israel’s decision.

From the beginning, this operation has been rejected by the United States, Israel’s main ally, from the beginning. Therefore, Israel’s months-long wait is due to international pressure. For its part, so far, the North American country has not commented, but it has already been informed by the Israeli Minister of Defense, Yoav Gallant. According to a statement from the minister, the operation began this Monday in Rafah with the order to evacuate civilians from the eastern part of the city “comes as a result of Hamas’s rejection of a truce in exchange of the release of the Israeli hostages”.

Although the Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, already warned early this Monday of his intentions: “From here, from Jerusalem, I am sending a very clear message: They will not chain our hands, and even if Israel has to be left alone, it will be left alone and will continue to fight our enemies until victory.” For Israel, Rafah It is the last stronghold of Hamas and believes that this invasion will end the Islamist movement, without thinking about ending thousands of innocent lives.

1.4 million Palestinians living poorly in their last refuge

Around 1.4 million Palestinians – more than half of Gaza’s population – They are crowded in the city and its surroundings. Most of them fled their homes elsewhere in the territory to escape Israel’s attack and now face another harrowing measure, or the danger of facing the brunt of a new attack. They live in densely populated tent camps, overflowing UN shelters or overcrowded apartments, and relying on international aid for food, with sanitation systems and medical facility infrastructure paralyzed.

To the south of this city, overwhelmed by the flow of civilians, there is no shelter left. Meanwhile, residents of the eastern neighborhoods of the southern Gazan city of Rafah, close to the so-called Philadelphia corridor bordering Egypt, have received messages urging them to evacuate and head toward the “humanitarian zone” from Al Mawasi, as reported this Monday by the Israeli Army. For now, he assures that it is a “limited operation” that involves the forced evacuation of “100,000 Palestinians.”

“In accordance with the approval of the (Israeli) Government, an assessment of the ongoing situation will guide the gradual movement of civilians from the specified areas towards the humanitarian area” of Al Mawasi, the Army said in a statement. The evacuation order is “temporary” and has been transmitted through posters, SMS messages, telephone calls and broadcasts in the Arabic media.

Why Israel considers this invasion key

Netanyahu has repeatedly stated that one of his main objectives is to destroy the military capabilities of the Islamic insurgent group. Israel maintains that Rafah is the last major stronghold of Hamas in the enclave.

Israel says Hamas has four battalions in Rafah and should send his ground troops to neutralize them. The Jewish State assures that some senior insurgent officials could be hiding in the city.

The main step of humanitarian aid, in danger

Israel is determined to launch a ground offensive against Hamas in Rafah, Gaza’s southernmost city, a plan that has sparked global alarm due to the potential for harm to more than a million Palestinian civilians sheltering there. But in addition, faced with an offensive in Rafah, The border crossing between Egypt and Gaza would be closedthrough which most of the international assistance enters.

According to the Israeli Army statement, the Al Mawasi area, close to Khan Younis, has been expanded, is receiving more humanitarian aid as “field hospitals, tents, more food, water, medicines and additional supplies.” However, the director of the UN Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA), Philippe Lazzarini, denounced last night that Israel had twice denied him In the last week the entry into Gaza, as well as an increase in attacks against humanitarian convoys and their personnel.

A few days ago the UN already warned that a ground invasion of the city would cause a real catastrophe. “Any ground operations in Rafah It will mean more suffering and death.” for displaced Palestinians taking refuge in the southernmost city of the Strip and its surroundings, the spokesperson for the UN Office for Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), Jens Laerke, stated this Friday at a press conference in Geneva.