Almost 450,000 people have fled Rafah, UN says
The UN has said that almost 450,000 Palestinians have fled from Rafah over the past week as Israeli tanks reportedly push deeper into the southern Gaza city.
“People face constant exhaustion, hunger and fear,” warned the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, Unrwa.
Israel’s military says it is continuing “operations against terror targets” in the east of the city, where more than a million people had been sheltering.
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New Israeli operations in northern Gaza have displaced another 100,000 people.
Israel has also returned to Zeitoun and Jabalia, they say Hamas has regrouped, just five months after they say they dismantled the group’s local battalions.
Israel ordered civilians to evacuate eastern Rafah and Jabalia before the assaults began, but the total of those displaced in recent days is almost equivalent to a quarter of Gaza’s 2.3 million population.
Israel started a war to destroy Hamas in response to the group’s attack on southern Israel on 7 October, in which around 1,200 people were killed and 252 taken hostage.
In response, more than 35,170 people have been killed in Gaza.
UN chief warns Rafah assault would be a human catastrophe – video
@itxfatima901 UN chief says Rafah assault would be a human catastrophe