Israel continues with plan to attack Rafah despite warnings of a 'disaster'

Israel persists in its plan to launch an attack on the densely populated city of Rafah, home to about 1.5 million Palestinians, despite increasing international warnings and ongoing negotiations to reach a ceasefire with Hamas in the Gaza Strip.

On another front, Israel carried out airstrikes on southern Lebanon on Wednesday, causing at least nine casualties according to Lebanese sources. 

This came after an Israeli soldier was killed in the north of the Hebrew state by a rocket launched from the other side of the border, amid international calls to prevent widening the war.

Israeli Chief of Staff Herzi Halevi, after meeting military leaders near the Lebanese border, stated that "Israel's upcoming campaign will be highly offensive." 

This follows four months of daily mutual shelling across the border between the Israeli army and the Iran-backed Hezbollah, an ally of the Hamas movement.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu wrote on his official Telegram account, "We will fight until complete victory, including a strong move in Rafah, after allowing civilians to leave the combat zones."

In the besieged and war-torn Gaza Strip, where the war has been ongoing since October 7 between Israel and the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas), the bombardment is currently concentrated in the southern regions, especially the cities of Khan Younis, where thousands of displaced people have sought refuge in Nasser Hospital surrounded by the Israeli army, and Rafah on the closed Egyptian border.

According to the United Nations, around 1.4 million people, most of whom have been displaced by the war, are gathered in this city, which has turned into a massive camp. It is the only major city in the Gaza Strip that the Israeli army has not invaded by land so far.

AFP