On Wednesday, Israel’s prime minister said there was no humanitarian catastrophe in Rafah, announcing that approximetely 500,000 people had been evacuated from the south Gaza city amid intense fighting.
It came as Palestinians commemorated the 76th anniversary of the ‘Nakba’, in which about 760,000 Palestinians fled or were driven from their homes during Israel’s 1948 military formation.
Israeli soldiers have battled and bombed Hamas near Gaza’s far-southern city of Rafah, but confrontations have resurfaced in northern and central areas where Israeli troops first entered months ago.
The rise of urban conflict in besieged Gaza has fuelled US concerns that Israel faces years of counterinsurgency operation.
Despite previous threats from US President Joe Biden to withhold some arms deliveries over Netanyahu’s insistence on striking Rafah, his administration informed Congress on Tuesday of a new $1 billion weapons package for Israel.
The European Union urged Israel to cease its military operation in Rafah immediately, saying that failure to do so would inevitably put a heavy strain on ties with the bloc.
Despite announcing that hundreds of thousands had been evacuated, Netanyahu argued there was no humanitarian crisis in Rafah.
In a statement, the Israeli PM said, “Our responsible efforts are bearing fruit. So far, in Rafah, close to half a million people have been evacuated from the combat zones. The humanitarian catastrophe that was spoken about did not materialise, nor will it”.
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