The Israeli army is bombing Rafah this Friday, in the south of the Gaza Strip, where more than a million people are crowded.
After the Israeli army concentrated its military operations on the towns of Gaza (north) then Khan Younes, further south, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ordered Wednesday to prepare an offensive on this town located on the border, closed, with Egypt, where there are 1.3 million Palestinians, the vast majority of whom are people displaced by the clashes of recent months.
During the night from Thursday to Friday, witnesses reported deadly Israeli strikes in central and southern Gaza.
Washington warned Thursday of a “disaster” in Rafah and assured that it would not support an operation “without serious planning” regarding civilians there.
“I think, as you know, that the response (…) in the Gaza Strip was excessive,” declared American President Joe Biden, in a rare criticism of Israel, a close ally of the States. -United.
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The Israeli army reported on Friday fighting the day before across the Gaza Strip, saying that 15 “terrorists” had been killed in Khan Younes.
The head of Unrwa, Philippe Lazzarini, again called on Friday for a “humanitarian ceasefire”.
An agreement still possible?
US National Security Council spokesman John Kirby stressed that Rafah was a crucial entry point for humanitarian aid, adding that such an attack was "not something that we would support.”
“Carrying out such an operation now without planning and without thought would be a disaster,” he added.
A short time later, President Joe Biden told reporters that he considered Israel's conduct of the war in Gaza to be "exaggerated."
“Half the population of Gaza is now crowded into Rafah, with nowhere to go,” said Antonio Guterres, the UN Secretary General on X. According to him, “Such an action would exponentially worsen what is already a humanitarian nightmare with incalculable regional consequences.”
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said a deal was still possible and negotiations would continue.
A Hamas delegation arrived in Cairo on Thursday for new negotiations.
While Rafah is on the border, Egypt has warned that any mass movement across the border would compromise the old peace treaty with Israel signed 40 years ago.