Israel PM claims no humanitarian crisis as hundreds of thousands flee Rafah

Rafah, Palestinian Territories — AFP

Israel’s prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu insisted on Wednesday there was no “humanitarian catastrophe” in Rafah as he announced nearly 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”, when around 760,000 Palestinians fled or were driven from their homes during the 1948 traumatic and bloody creation of the Zionist state of Israel on occupied Palestinian land.

Israeli forces have bombed Gaza’s far-southern city of Rafah, but clashes have also flared again in northern and central areas which Israeli troops first entered months ago.

The upsurge has fuelled US warnings that Israel risks being bogged down in a counterinsurgency operation for years.

But despite previous threats by US President Joe Biden to withhold some arms deliveries over Netanyahu’s insistence on attacking Rafah, his administration informed Congress of a new $1 billion weapons package for Israel, official sources said.

The European Union urged Israel to end its military operation in Rafah “immediately”, warning that failure to do so would “inevitably put a heavy strain” on ties with the bloc.

But even as he announced that hundreds of thousands had been “evacuated”, Netanyahu insisted there was no humanitarian crisis in Rafah.

Rafah had been home to over 2 million displaced people, who have been pushed out into unlivable conditions as a result of Israel’s decision to attack this former “safe zone”.

“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,” the prime minister leading the genocidal operation said in a statement.