At least 13 killed in Israeli airstrike in southern Rafah
U.S.: “If we operate without considering refugees, it will be a disaster.”
Israel conducted an airstrike on Rafah, a border city in the southern Gaza Strip with more than 1 million refugees. The U.S. government warned Israel that launching a ground operation in Rafah without proper planning would be disastrous.
According to the Associated Press on the 8th (local time), an Israeli airstrike killed at least 13 people in Rafah, southern Gaza, just hours after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu rejected Hamas’ ceasefire conditions and pledged to expand the offensive to the southern Gaza Strip. people died.
The Kuwaiti hospital, where the bodies were recovered, reported that at least 13 people, including two women and five children, were killed in the nighttime airstrike. At the site of the air raid, residents are using cell phone flashlights and digging through the rubble with pickaxes and bare hands.
With more than half of the Gaza Strip’s population evacuated to Rafah near the border with Egypt, a major entry point for humanitarian aid, and with the Israeli military focusing its operations on Rafah, concerns are growing that Israeli troops entering Rafah and a ground battle are imminent. .
Egypt has warned that any ground fighting in Rafah or mass movement across the border would undermine its four-year peace treaty with Israel.
Prime Minister Netanyahu said he was preparing to expand the Israeli military’s offensive to Rafah.
The Joe Biden administration warned Israel that launching a large-scale offensive without considering the refugees in Rafah would have disastrous consequences.
“The United States has not yet seen any evidence that (Israel) has made serious plans for the operation,” said Vedant Patel, deputy spokesperson for the U.S. State Department. “It is,” he said.
The White House also made similar remarks.
John Kirby, strategic communications coordinator for the White House National Security Council (NSC), said, “There are more than 1 million refugees in Rafah. “If we carry out a military operation right now without considering their safety, it will be a disaster for civilians,” he said, adding, “We will not support such an operation.”
Source: Donga
Mark Jones is a world traveler and journalist for News Rebeat. With a curious mind and a love of adventure, Mark brings a unique perspective to the latest global events and provides in-depth and thought-provoking coverage of the world at large.