Israeli Military Operations In South Gaza Forces 110 Thousand Residents Of Rafah City To Evacuate

Palestinians line up to get food assistance from UNRWA in Rafah City, southern Gaza Strip. (Between/Xinhua/am)

JAKARTA - A total of 110,000 people were forced to flee Rafah City in the southern region of the Gaza Strip due to operations carried out by the Israeli military, the UN Agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) said on Friday.

UNRWA also again urged an immediate ceasefire in the region.

As Israeli forces intensively bombarded Rafah, forced evacuations continued.UNRWA estimates that around 110,000 people have now left Rafah to save themselves. However, there is no safe place in the Gaza Strip and the conditions are dire. The only hope is an immediate ceasefire," UNRWA wrote on platform X.

On Monday (6/5) night until Tuesday (7/5) the Israeli military began military operations in the eastern region of Rafah City and took over the Gaza side at the Rafah intersection with Egypt.

The Palestinian resistance group, Hamas, claimed to have approved the terms of the ceasefire agreement proposed by Egyptian and Qatar mediators.

However, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu even stated that the agreement was unacceptable.

Currently, more than one million people are believed to have fled in Rafah City.

On Thursday (9/5) the Politico newspaper, citing various sources, reported that ceasefire negotiations between Israel and Hamas in Cairo were suspended, including due to Israeli military operations in Rafah.

However, White House National Security Communications Advisor John Kirby said negotiations were still ongoing even though CIA Director William Burns left.

On October 7, 2023 Hamas launched a massive rocket attack on Israel and broke through the border and attacked civilian settlements and military bases. As a result, nearly 1,200 Israelis were killed and about 240 others held hostage during the attack.

Israel then carried out a counter-attack, ordered a total siege of Gaza and began carrying out a ground invasion with the aim of eliminating Hamas fighters and rescuing the hostages.

So far, more than 34,900 Palestinians have been killed in Israeli military attacks in Gaza, according to local authorities. Meanwhile, more than 100 hostages are believed to be still being detained by Hamas in Gaza.