Christina Bouri and Diana Roy
On May 7, Israel’s military said that it had seized control of the Palestinian side of the Rafah border crossing between the southern Gaza Strip and Egypt. Israeli tanks had entered the area in what they called a “limited” operation. However, it could represent the start of a ground campaign against Hamas battalions in the city of Rafah, part of a broader effort to dismantle the militant group entirely. But how Israel plans to achieve its goals while protecting Palestinian civilians is still unclear.
Approximately 1.4 million people, more than half of Gaza’s population, have been sheltering in Rafah as hostilities continue between Israel and Hamas more than seven months after the outbreak of the war. Most live in makeshift shelters and tents and lack access to clean drinking water, sufficient food, and medical supplies.
Prior to the incursion, the Israeli military ordered tens of thousands of civilians in Rafah to evacuate, reportedly telling them to head to humanitarian zones near the cities of al-Mawasi and Khan Younis. Aid organizations say al-Mawasi is overcrowded and unprepared to accept tens of thousands of refugees who might seek shelter there.
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