IDF confirms buying thousands of tents for evacuation, raising fears over long-threatened attack
Israel has reportedly deployed extra artillery and armoured personnel carriers to the Gaza Strip periphery, suggesting that the military is preparing for its long-threatened ground offensive on Rafah, the only place of relative safety for at least 1.4 million displaced Palestinian civilians.
It comes 10 days after Israel withdrew the bulk of its ground forces from the strip, leaving one division to man the Netzarim Corridor, the Israeli-built buffer that now divides the coastal territory. Israel has said for weeks it is going to launch a ground operation into the last corner of Gaza that has not seen fierce ground fighting, despite intense opposition from its closest allies, including the US. Israel says that Hamas’s leadership, and Israeli hostages, are also in Rafah, along with four battalions of fighters.
Israel’s war cabinet is now focused on weighing up how to respond to Iran, but the government has also repeatedly insisted the Rafah operation will go ahead. Since then, the humanitarian crisis in Gaza has become steadily worse: Israel has destroyed almost all the strip’s healthcare facilities and famine is now present in some areas.has “increased and quite dramatically” in the last few days, White House national security spokesperson John Kirby said on Monday. A single bakery in Gaza City was able to open for the first time in months earlier this week, drawing crowds who waited for hours.
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