Israel builds enormous tent city and ‘prepares to evacuate a million Palestinians before six-week invasion of Rafah starting in May’ – as US warns Hamas is aiming for ‘full-scale regional war’
New satellite images appear to show Israel building a massive tent city as it prepares to evacuate more than a million Palestinians who have taken refuge in Rafah, the last surviving city in the Gaza Strip.
Photos from satellite imaging company Planet Labs show a clear build-up of tents in a uniform pattern near Khan Younis, which was largely razed during the Israeli army’s bloody invasion of the Gaza Strip.
The photos, taken over three days on April 18 and 21 respectively, show that white structures have built up significantly in a short time.
Israel has said several times it plans to evacuate displaced civilians from Rafah ahead of a six-week military operation likely to begin in May.
Egyptian officials told the Wall Street Journal that the first few weeks will be devoted to evacuating refugees to Khan Younis and other areas equipped with shelters and medical facilities.
The preparations come as the US says Hamas is preparing for a “full-scale regional war.”
The photos, taken three days apart on April 18 and 21 respectively, show that white structures have built up significantly in a short time
Israel has said several times it plans to evacuate displaced civilians from Rafah ahead of a six-week military operation likely to begin in May.
Smoke rises after Israeli attacks, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas
The conflict has sparked regional unrest, pitting Israel and the US against Iran and allied militant groups in the Middle East
People rush to land humanitarian aid packages dropped over the northern Gaza Strip
State Department spokesman Matt Miller said Hamas was “moving the goalposts” on hostage and ceasefire negotiations, adding that the terror group rejected a “very important proposal” but did not specify what this was.
He said: ‘It certainly appears that Hamas is more interested in a full-scale regional war.
“It takes two to make an agreement, and right now Hamas has indicated that they don’t want an agreement.”
Miller urged Hamas to remain at the table, telling the group that the ball was “in their court.”
The conflict has sparked regional unrest, pitting Israel and the US against Iran and allied militant groups in the Middle East. Israel and Iran exchanged direct fire this month, raising fears of an all-out war.
Other groups are also involved in the wider conflict, with an elite Hezbollah commander killed in an Israeli attack on southern Lebanon on Monday.
Mohammad Khalil Atiyeh was a member of the terrorist group’s elite Radwan force.
This satellite image from Planet Labs PBC shows tents and other makeshift housing built around the area of the Tel al-Sultan refugee camp on Saturday, April 20, 2024
Civil defense teams and locals carry out search and rescue operations after an Israeli attack hits Abdulal’s family building in Rafah
Family members of Palestinians who lost their lives as a result of an Israeli airstrike mourn
State Department spokesman Matt Miller said Hamas was “moving the goalposts” in hostage and ceasefire negotiations
The war was sparked by the unprecedented Oct. 7 attack on southern Israel, in which Hamas and other militants killed about 1,200 people.
The Lebanese militant group Hezbollah and allied groups have been clashing with Israeli forces along the border for more than six months, against the backdrop of Israel’s war against Hamas in the Gaza Strip.
The war was sparked by the unprecedented Oct. 7 attack in southern Israel, in which Hamas and other militants killed about 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and kidnapped about 250 hostages.
Israel says militants are still holding about 100 hostages and the remains of more than 30 others.
More than 34,000 Palestinians have been killed in the war between Israel and Hamas, about two-thirds of them children and women, according to local health officials. It has destroyed Gaza’s two largest cities and left a trail of devastation.
Gaza’s Health Ministry said on Tuesday that the bodies of 32 people killed by Israeli strikes had been taken to local hospitals in the past 24 hours. Hospitals also received 59 injured people, the daily report said.
The war between Israel and Hamas has killed more than 34,000 Palestinians, according to local health officials
A Palestinian child checks the rubble of a house hit by an overnight Israeli bombardment in Rafah
A Palestinian woman checks the rubble of a house hit by an Israeli bomb attack in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip on April 20
That brings the total Palestinian death toll from the war between Israel and Hamas to at least 34,183, the ministry said. Another 77,143 were injured, the report said.
The Health Ministry does not distinguish between fighters and civilians in its figures, but says women and children make up about two-thirds of the deaths.
About 80% of the area’s population has fled to other parts of the besieged coastal enclave.
The US House of Representatives on Saturday approved a $26 billion aid package that includes about $9 billion in humanitarian aid for Gaza, which experts say is on the brink of famine, and billions for Israel.
The U.S. Senate could approve the package as soon as Tuesday, and President Joe Biden has pledged to sign it immediately.