Israel’s Netanyahu orders military to develop plan to evacuate Rafah, Abbas reacts

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Friday he had ordered the military to develop a dual plan to evacuate civilians from Rafah in southern Gaza and to defeat the remaining Hamas battalions, as international pressure on Israel mounts.

Israel on Friday launched a deadly air strike on Rafah, the last part of the enclave where Gazans have found refuge, despite criticism of its offensive by US President Joe Biden and aid groups’ warnings of a high death toll among Palestinians if it advances into the city.

International concern about the fate of hundreds of thousands of displaced Gazans sheltering in Rafah has risen since Israel threatened a ground assault on the city, on the border with Egypt.

Washington said on Thursday it would not support any Israeli military operation launched in Rafah without due
consideration for the plight of civilians, and Biden described Israel’s response to the Oct. 7 Hamas attacks as “over the top.”

Palestinian president reacts

The office of Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas said on Friday a plan announced by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for a military escalation in Rafah at the southern edge of the Gaza Strip aims to drive Palestinians from their land.

The office of Abbas, head of the Palestinian Authority that exerts partial self-rule in the Israeli occupied West Bank, said it holds both the Israeli government and the US administration responsible for the plan’s repercussions.

The Palestinian presidency called on the UN Security Council to take heed, “because (Israel) taking this step threatens security and peace in the region and the world. It crosses all red lines,” the statement said.