Rafah is bombed. Photo: Agence France-Presse.
Israel announced on Thursday that its army would “intensify” ground operations in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip, despite international warnings of a large-scale attack on the city where hundreds of thousands of displaced Palestinians have taken refuge.
“More forces will enter” Rafah and “Al-Nash.” [militar] It will intensify,” Defense Minister Yoav Galant said.
This invasion and its consequences for civilians are of concern to the international community, starting with the United States, Israel’s main ally.
In an attempt to end the war, the Arab League meeting in Bahrain called for the establishment of a United Nations peacekeeping force in the occupied Palestinian territories until the two-state solution is implemented.
The Israeli army reported that five soldiers were killed by friendly fire against a building in which they were gathered on Wednesday evening in the Jabalia refugee camp in the northern Gaza Strip.
More than 80,000 Palestinians fled Rafah amid Israeli bombing
The United States announced that its forces had completed the installation of a temporary pier on the Gaza beach with the aim of facilitating the entry of humanitarian aid.
“The pier was successfully placed on the Gaza beach,” said Vice Admiral Brad Cooper, deputy commander of US Central Command.
Humanitarian aid is expected to “start landing in the coming days,” the US military command in the Middle East (Centcom) said on the “X” social network.
The pier, which costs at least $320 million, is part of international efforts to circumvent Israel’s restrictions on access to land in the Gaza Strip.
United Nations estimates indicate that famine threatens most of the Gaza Strip’s population of 2.4 million people.
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