Why is Rafah Israel’s target?
Last Updated on May 9, 2024 3:28 am
Rafah is an important city in southern Gaza. The small town in the besieged zone is home to 1.4 million displaced people. The city known as Gaza’s ‘lifeline’ is now Israel’s battleground.
Israeli forces have taken control of the site since Tuesday. Tel Aviv announced this by hanging a flag near the border. They are attacking the city in the midst of a ceasefire proposal. As a result, displaced persons are somehow running here and there to save their lives. Why is Rafah Israel’s target after all? This is the question now. The Guardian, AP.
Israel claims that the Rafah border is being used by Palestinians for terrorist activities. They also believe that the armed forces of Hamas are also stationed there. As a result, the Israeli forces are intensifying their attacks on the Rafah border to eliminate Hamas.
Rafah is also an important city for Palestinians, even from a geographical point of view. The city is located on the border between the Gaza Strip and Egypt. On the Egyptian side, it is the administrative city of North Sinai. Most of the relief supplies enter Gaza through the Rafah border. Even escape from the besieged area has to use the Rafah border. After all, the Israeli forces targeted Rafah again as they did not agree to the ceasefire proposal.
On Wednesday, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said a full-scale attack on Rafah would be a “humanitarian disaster”.
The United Nations children’s agency, UNICEF, on the other hand, has warned that the ground offensive in Rafah poses catastrophic risks to children. UNICEF Executive Director Catherine Russell.
He said Rafah is now a city for children, who have nowhere safe to go in Gaza. If a large-scale military operation were to begin, children would not only be at risk of violence, but of chaos and terror, and at a time when their physical and psychological conditions are already weakened.
“The closure of the Rafah border has prevented the entry of trucks carrying essential medicines, medical equipment and fuel for hospitals,” a spokesman said. ‘