Israeli offensive will turn focus to Rafah, minister

Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said the next focus of Israel’s operation in Gaza will be Rafah, a city in the south of the besieged enclave to which hundreds of thousands of displaced civilians have fled.

“The Khan Younis Brigade of the Hamas organization is dismantled; we complete the mission and will continue to Rafah,” Gallant said in a message posted on social media Thursday.

In a Friday update, the Israel Defense Forces said its ground troops “continue to operate in western Khan Younis,” adding that Israeli forces carried out close-quarters combat and airstrikes in the western part of the city over the past day. The IDF also continued operations in central and northern Gaza, it added.

Khan Younis and Rafah, both in southern Gaza, have become home to large numbers of displaced Palestinians. Before the war, Rafah was home to 280,000 people; according to the U.N. humanitarian agency, it is now hosting more than half of Gaza’s population of over 2 million people.

The Gaza director for the U.N. agency for Palestinian refugees said Wednesday at least 184,000 people had registered for its assistance in the outskirts of Khan Younis, after fleeing intense fighting in the west of the city. The Gaza Health Ministry said Thursday that more than 30,000 displaced people sheltering in schools close to the Nasser Medical Complex in Khan Younis lack food, water and medical supplies.

LINK: https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2024/02/02/israel-hamas-war-news-gaza-palestine/#link-KXBCWMECSVA7XM3U5VM7T2VYLY

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