Israeli forces mass on Rafah’s outskirts as US warns a major assault could halt arms

May 9, 2024 5:43 PM

Israeli forces mass on Rafah’s outskirts as US warns a major assault could halt arms

Israeli forces massed tanks and opened fire close to built-up areas of Rafah on Thursday, residents said, after U.S. President Joe Biden vowed to withhold weapons from Israel if its forces launch a major invasion of the southern Gaza city. As ceasefire talks continued in Cairo, Palestinian militant groups Hamas and Islamic Jihad said their fighters struck Israeli forces on the eastern outskirts of Rafah, firing anti-tank rockets and mortars at Israeli positions. Residents and medics in Rafah...

Gaza ceasefire uncertain, Israel vows to continue Rafah operation

May 7, 2024 12:03 PM

Gaza ceasefire uncertain, Israel vows to continue Rafah operation

Palestinian militant group Hamas on Monday agreed to a Gaza ceasefire proposal from mediators, but Israel said the terms did not meet its demands and pressed ahead with strikes in Rafah while planning to continue negotiations on a deal. The developments in the seven-month-old war came as Israeli forces struck Rafah on Gaza's southern edge from the air and ground and ordered residents to leave parts of the city, which has been a refuge for more than a million displaced Palestinians. Hamas s...

Israel attacks Rafah after Hamas claims responsibility for deadly rocket attack

May 6, 2024 11:23 AM

Israel attacks Rafah after Hamas claims responsibility for deadly rocket attack

Three Israeli soldiers were killed in a rocket attack claimed by Hamas armed wing, near the southern Gaza Strip city of Rafah, where Palestinian health officials said at least 19 people were killed by Israeli fire on Sunday. Hamas's armed wing claimed responsibility on Sunday for an attack on the Kerem Shalom crossing into Gaza that Israel said killed three of its soldiers. Israel's military said 10 projectiles were launched from Rafah in southern Gaza towards the area of the crossing, which ...

Rafah operation could result in ‘slaughter’, UN official says

May 3, 2024 5:14 PM

Rafah operation could result in ‘slaughter’, UN official says

An Israeli incursion in Rafah would put the lives of hundreds of thousands of Gazans at risk and be a huge blow to the humanitarian operations of the entire enclave, the U.N. humanitarian office said on Friday. Israel has warned of an operation against Hamas in the southern Gazan city of Rafah, where around a million displaced people are crowded together in shelters and makeshift accommodation, having fled months of Israeli bombardments triggered by Hamas fighters' deadly cross-border attack on...

Israel gears up for Rafah civilian evacuation ahead of promised assault

April 24, 2024 4:52 PM

Israel gears up for Rafah civilian evacuation ahead of promised assault

Israel has procured tens of thousands of tents for Palestinian civilians it intends to evacuate from Rafah in the coming weeks ahead a promised assault on the city it sees as the last bastion of Hamas in the Gaza Strip, Israeli sources said on Wednesday. Abutting the Egyptian border, Rafah's population has been swollen by more than a million Palestinians who fled the half-year-old Israeli offensive through the rest of Gaza. Their fate worries Western powers as well as Cairo, which has ruled ou...

Netanyahu says Israel to press on with Rafah assault plan

September 16, 2024 4:59 PM

Netanyahu says Israel to press on with Rafah assault plan

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Sunday he would keep on with the military campaign against Hamas in Gaza, where aid agencies say famine is looming, while ceasefire talks were set to resume. Netanyahu told a cabinet meeting that Israel would push into Rafah, the last relatively safe place in the tiny, crowded Gaza enclave after more than five months of war, despite international pressure for Israel to avoid civilian casualties. "We will operate in Rafah. This will take several...