Gazans living in the overcrowded border city of Rafah are attempting to flee ahead of an expected military operation by Israeli forces, despite uncertainty about where to go next and dwindling resources.
“We’ve been living in a state of terror for about a week now,” Anwaar al-Rai, 48, said in an interview Tuesday. Rai, who was traveling with her husband Mahmoud al-Rai, 49, and their two daughters, said she and her husband had been reaching out to everyone they knew in the western areas of Gaza’s central region, north of Khan Younis. “We urgently need a safe haven,” she said.
Israel’s military rescued two hostages from Rafah city in southern Gaza on Feb. 11 in a nighttime operation that killed at least 67 Palestinians. (Video: Joe Snell/The Washington Post)
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called last week for a “massive operation” in Rafah, citing the need to “collapse” remaining Hamas militant units in the last remaining refuge in Gaza. Israeli strikes in the city on Monday, part of what Israel said was an operation to rescue hostages, have added to the fears in Rafah. The strikes killed at least 67 people, according to the Gaza Health Ministry.
The Biden administration has repeatedly warned against any military operation in Rafah if it puts civilians at risk, with President Biden saying Monday that Israel must have “a credible plan to ensure the safety and support of more than 1 million people sheltering there.”
Rafah was previously one of the Strip’s last refuges, swelling to an estimated 1.4 million in population by early February, more than five times its prewar size. Many of those displaced have ended up in sprawling tent encampments on the city’s edges. The Washington Post spoke to several Gazans in Rafah who said they were trying to head north to Gaza’s central region, even though the Israeli military previously ordered the evacuation of that area.
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