Palestinians walk through a makeshift tent camp in Deir al-Bala, Gaza Strip, Sunday, May 12, 2024. Displaced by Israeli air and ground attacks on the Gaza Strip. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)
RAFAH, Gaza Strip — The exodus of Palestinians from Gaza’s last refuge accelerated Sunday as Israeli forces advanced deeper into the southern city of Rafah. Israel also attacked the devastated northern part of the territory, where some Hamas militants are regrouping in areas the army says it cleared months ago.
Rafah is considered Hamas’ last stronghold. Roughly 300,000 of the more than 1 million civilians who have been evacuated are working to dismantle Hamas and return the dozens of hostages taken from Israel in the October 7 attack that sparked the war. They were evacuated from the city in response to an evacuation order from Israel, which threatened to invade Israel.
Neighboring Egypt has issued its strongest protest yet against the Rafah attack and announced its intention to formally join South Africa’s case at the International Court of Justice alleging Israel is committing genocide in Gaza. , Israel rejects this accusation. A Foreign Ministry statement noted the “deteriorating severity and scope of Israeli attacks against Palestinian civilians.”
UN human rights chief Volker Turk said in a statement that he did not see how a full-scale invasion of Rafah would be consistent with international humanitarian law.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken reiterated his opposition to a major military attack on Rafah, saying that without an evacuation from Gaza and a post-war governance plan, Israel “will remain responsible for an enduring insurgency.” told CBS.
Gaza has been left without a functioning government, leading to a collapse of security and allowing Hamas militants to reestablish themselves even in the hardest-hit areas. Hamas on Sunday advertised attacks against Israeli soldiers in Rafah and near Gaza City.
Israel has yet to offer detailed plans for its postwar governance of the Gaza Strip, saying only that it will maintain unrestricted security control over the enclave, which is home to about 2.3 million Palestinians.
Talks over an internationally brokered ceasefire and the release of the hostages appeared to be at an impasse.
In his Memorial Day speech, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu commemorated those who died in the war and vowed to continue fighting until victory. But in Tel Aviv, hundreds of demonstrators stood outside military headquarters, lighting candles and demanding an immediate cease-fire for the return of the hostages as a minute-long siren sounded to signal the start of the day.
Prime Minister Netanyahu rejected a postwar plan proposed by the United States in which the Palestinian Authority, which controls parts of the Israeli-occupied West Bank, would rule Gaza with support from Arab and Islamic countries. These plans depend on progress toward establishing a Palestinian state, which the Israeli government opposes.
The October 7 attack killed around 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and took another 250 hostages. The insurgents still hold about 100 prisoners and more than 30 bodies.
Israeli attacks have killed more than 35,000 Palestinians, the majority of them women and children, according to the Gaza Health Ministry, which does not distinguish between civilians and fighters in its statistics. Israel claims, without providing evidence, that it has killed more than 13,000 militants.
heavy shelling in the north
Palestinians reported heavy Israeli shelling throughout the night in the urban Jabaliya refugee camp and other areas in northern Gaza. The Gaza Strip has been largely isolated by Israeli forces for several months. United Nations officials say there is “full-scale famine” on the ground.
Israeli warplanes and artillery also struck the Zeitoun area east of Gaza City, where troops have been fighting insurgents for more than a week, residents said. They called on tens of thousands of people to move to nearby areas.
“It was a very tough night,” said Abdelkareem Radwan, 48, from Jabaliya. Heavy and continuous bombing could be heard from noon on Saturday. “This is madness.”
First responders from the Palestinian Civil Defense Agency said they were unable to respond to multiple calls for help from both areas and from Rafah.
In central Gaza, staff at al-Aqsa hospital in Deir al-Balah announced that four people had been killed in an Israeli airstrike.
Major General Daniel Hagari, Israel’s top military spokesman, said troops were also operating in the northern towns of Beit Rahiya and Beit Hanoun, which were heavily bombed early in the war.
Hamas’ military wing said it shelled Israeli special forces east of Jabaliya and fired mortar shells at troops and vehicles entering the Rafah border crossing.
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