image source, AFP
A displaced Palestinian woman in Rafah, south of the Gaza Strip, on January 28, 2024.
Israel announced that it plans to transfer the displaced Palestinians in Rafah to what it calls “humanitarian islands” in the center of the Strip.
This comes ahead of the planned ground attack on the southern city of Rafah, where more than a million Palestinians reside.
It is not yet clear what these “humanitarian islands” are, or how they operate specifically, but Israel has indicated that they are provided with aid and temporary housing.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said he had not yet received the details, but he “needs to see a plan to keep civilians out of harm’s way” within any military operation in Rafah.
Israel has repeatedly indicated its need for such an attack, insisting that Hamas cannot be completely removed from Gaza without targeting Rafah.
More than a million Palestinians – more than half of Gaza’s population – have been displaced to Rafah without adequate shelter, in light of the scarcity of food and medical supplies.
The central part of the Strip, to which Israel proposes to transfer them, has been severely damaged by repeated ground and air attacks. No time frame has yet been set for when the operation will take place.
Israeli army spokesman Daniel Hagari said that transferring those in Rafah to the designated areas, which he confirmed would be in coordination with international actors, is an essential part of the army’s preparations for the expected attack on Rafah.
Hagari added that these “islands” would provide temporary housing, food, water, and other necessities for civilians fleeing the war.
The Israeli army spokesman did not mention the timing of the evacuation of Rafah or the start of the attack on the city, explaining that Israel wants the timing to be appropriate from an operational standpoint and to be in coordination with Egypt, which said it does not want the influx of displaced Palestinians across its borders.
A new path for aid
image source, AFP
A convoy of trucks carrying humanitarian aid enters the Gaza Strip from Egypt via the Rafah border crossing on October 21, 2023.
The United Nations Special Rapporteur on human rights in the occupied Palestinian territories, Francesca Albanese, criticized Israel’s plans to transfer civilians in the crowded city of Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip in anticipation of hostile action against Hamas.
Albanese said that living conditions elsewhere in the Strip were extremely difficult, and that Israel’s record regarding operations to secure civilians was not in line with international law.
On the other hand, the United Nations announced the use of a new land route to deliver food to northern Gaza for the first time in three weeks.
The Israeli army said that six trucks belonging to the World Food Program crossed through a gate in the Gaza border fence (Crossing 96).
The army added that the delivery, which took place on Tuesday evening, was “part of an experiment to prevent Hamas from seizing aid,” stressing that the results of the experiment would be presented to “political parties.”
The United Nations indicated that the World Food Program convoy was able to use an Israeli military road extending along the Gaza border fence to reach the north and deliver enough food to about 25,000 Palestinians.
This comes amid global pressure on Israel to allow more access to the Palestinian territories for aid, amid a looming famine as Israel continues its war in Gaza.
A boat carrying 200 tons of food aid for distribution by a charity also sailed from Cyprus on Tuesday, opening a new sea corridor to the Palestinian territories, and is expected to arrive near Gaza on Thursday.
The French news agency reported that a second ship loaded with humanitarian aid allocated to Gaza is in the port of Larnaca, waiting to sail after unloading the first batch in the Palestinian Strip, according to what Cypriot Foreign Minister Constantinos Koumpos said on Wednesday.
“In the current situation, we are working through an NGO, and we are already following up with a commercial ship with a larger capacity” that could leave Cyprus “after unloading the first cargo if there are no problems,” Kombos told reporters in Nicosia.
Combos added that the ship, owned by an unidentified state, “has been docked in Larnaca since Saturday,” noting that “the ship and the cargo are being inspected” by the authorities, without specifying the amount of aid it is carrying.
Combos pointed out that one of the concerns is ensuring the smooth conduct of aid distribution operations on the ground and “managing the crowds” waiting and needing food in the besieged Strip, which has been subjected to Israeli bombing since the outbreak of the current war on the seventh of last October.
He added: “We want people to know that there will be regular deliveries of Gazans.”
The United Nations says that at least 576,000 Palestinians in Gaza are one step away from famine.
Children of Rafah to the West Bank
image source, AFP
Displaced Palestinian children in Rafah demonstrate in support of their peers who are facing greater famine in northern Gaza, on February 21, 2024.
On the other hand, the humanitarian non-governmental organization “SOS Children’s Villages” said that a group of 68 children had been evacuated from its village in the city of Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip, in addition to 11 caregivers and workers in this non-profit organization, and their families. .
The organization, which sponsors orphaned children, reported in a statement that these children and families were transferred to the city of Bethlehem in the occupied West Bank “through official ministries and diplomatic channels,” and that they arrived in this city last Monday.
The statement stated that the ages of these children ranged between two and 14 years, and that they were all in good condition, noting that they had been under the care of the humanitarian organization “SOS Children’s Villages” since before the war.
The international organization, which has been working in the Palestinian territories since 1968, stated that it remains “deeply concerned” about the condition of children and others, who remain at “extreme risk in the Gaza Strip.”
She pointed out that her children’s village in Rafah is currently still hosting and caring for “a group of children who have lost parental care. The village in Rafah also currently includes, to the extent it can accommodate, a number of displaced people, children, graduates, and extended families.”
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