A message with a distorted voice and an otherworldly tone arrived this Monday morning on the phone of Mustapha Ibrahim, 62, a Palestinian from northern Gaza who has taken refuge since the first days of the war in the southern city of Rafah. It was an evacuation order. The interlocutor asked in Arabic the residents of several neighborhoods in that town, considered a combat zone from now on, to go north, in the direction of Khan Yunis. But the message in a threatening tone reached the cell phones of those who live outside the affected area, such as Mustapha Ibrahim himself, who lives nearby. People live “shocked” and “afraid” of the decision of where and how to leave, because “it is difficult to make a decision to leave or not because of Israel’s lies,” he laments through messages.
After the blockage of negotiations to reach a ceasefire and the Hamas attack that killed four Israeli soldiers on Sunday, the Jewish State announced early on Monday that it was launching the operation on Rafah, the last end of the Strip that They have yet to invade and whose first phase is the aforementioned evacuation of civilians. Meanwhile, the army has continued bombing that population from the air. On the night of Monday to Tuesday, it did so with “selective” attacks while the opposing parties tried to ensure that the door of the truce did not close completely.
Throughout Monday afternoon, in a new roller coaster of expectations, Hamas announced that it accepts the truce proposal submitted by Qatar and Egypt. Although Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu believes they are “far away,” he announced late Monday that he was sending a delegation to Cairo after a war cabinet meeting. At the same time, he assured that he maintains his plan in Rafah to pressure the Palestinian militia to hand over the captives.
“For me it would be an absolutely incredible surprise if Rafah ended up being diluted,” says Jesús Núnez Villaverde, co-director of the Institute for Conflict Studies and Humanitarian Action (IECAH). He believes that in the seven months of war, Natenyahu has been able to manage the pressures within his government, with the military and with the United States and “day after day he has been crushing” Gaza. That does not mean, he adds, that he finally resolves Rafah with “selective strikes” instead of with a classic ground invasion. In any case, the supposed restrictions that the United States would be placing on Israel understand that they are a “pantomime” and what he really counts is the support approved in April of 25.5 billion dollars from President Joe Biden.
Despite the official lack of agreement, there were some scenes of joy in the Strip and the families of the Israeli kidnapped people welcomed the step taken by the fundamentalist militia to announce their approval of the plan. “Now is the time for all those involved to fulfill their commitment and turn this opportunity into an agreement for the return of all hostages,” they said in a statement. “I start from the idea that Israel is not interested in the truce and that at every moment it will seek the excuse that is necessary to say that I cannot accept Hamas’s conditions,” says analyst Núñez Villaverde.
The initiative defended by Hamas foresees, in three phases (40, 42 and 42 days respectively) over four months, the gradual release of hostages, the departure of Israeli troops from the population centers of Gaza, the return of displaced to their places of origin and the beginning of the reconstruction of the Strip, according to details reported last Wednesday by the Lebanese newspaper Al Akhbar.
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Israel stands alone in its decision to launch its troops into Rafah amid widespread criticism from the international community. But a certain climate of impunity reigns that some criticize. “With their multimillion-dollar funds and their direct arms support, the most powerful nations have de facto given Israel carte blanche to commit war crimes,” Franc Cortada, director of the NGO Oxfam Intermón, denounces in a statement in reaction to the announced operation. for Rafah.
“I hope there is an urgent intervention to stop this massacre and this war,” sighs a weary Mustapha Ibrahim from Rafah. In this sense, he believes that only the United States has the necessary power of influence over Israel and “whoever does not prevent it will be complicit in genocide.” Meanwhile, “what you have to do is try to survive, although it is difficult,” he says. For many, that means loading their vehicles, when they have it and have fuel, with the essentials and leaving Rafah, as the images that have arrived in the last few hours show. There, next to the border with Egypt, live around 1.5 million displaced people arriving from other areas of Gaza, which has a total population of 2.3 million inhabitants.
The Strip is about to enter the eighth month of a conflict, which began on October 7, when Hamas murdered some 1,200 people and kidnapped some 250, according to official figures. The Israeli military response has already caused more than 34,700 fatalities in Gaza.
In the midst of a huge humanitarian crisis, basically due to the Israeli blockade of aid, Mustapha Ibrahim does not complain about the lack of water, electricity or food. Right now, under the current threat of evacuation and invasion, there is something that is missing above all: “Security,” he responds bluntly. He lives with his 59-year-old wife in the home of his brothers since they left theirs in the Rimal neighborhood of Gaza City in mid-October. His car was bombed there. Together they spend Monday afternoon trying to clarify what they are going to do after Israel’s latest warning. If they leave immediately, if they wait a few days… The neighborhood they live in is close to the area that the Israeli army has ordered to evacuate. They could, for the moment, stay, but they do not trust and, like the rest of the neighbors, they are prey to uncertainty once again.
“The population is reliving the same experience they already had with other cities. Gaza, Jabalia and Khan Yunis. People hear the sounds of bombings, they distrust Israel, which only asks for displacement. There is no safe place. There has been no security at any time in Rafah, under aerial bombardment. And, now, with the threat of a land invasion, this is more dangerous,” describes this political analyst and member of the board of directors of the Palestinian human rights NGO Addameer.
While answering questions from Morning Express through messages, Mustapha Ibrahim attaches images captured with his mobile phone of the columns of smoke from the bombings that Israel maintains on the town. He estimates that these attacks take place one kilometer from the home he occupies with his family. In front, an esplanade where dozens of tents are erected that provide shelter to displaced people from other areas of the Strip.
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