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Misery deepens in Gaza’s Rafah as Israeli troops press operation

Aid workers are struggling to distribute dwindling food and other supplies to hundreds of thousands of Palestinians displaced by what Israel says is a limited operation in Rafah, as the two main crossings near the southern Gaza city remain closed.

Quick Read

  • Humanitarian Crisis Intensifies in Gaza: In Gaza’s Rafah, the situation deteriorates as Israeli forces continue their military operations, claiming to target militant infrastructure. The intensified conflict has resulted in widespread displacement, with hundreds of thousands of Palestinians fleeing their homes amid severe restrictions on food and medical supplies.
  • Aid Distribution Challenges: Humanitarian efforts are severely hampered in Rafah, with critical food and medical supplies dwindling. Two main crossings into the area remain closed, complicating aid delivery and exacerbating the humanitarian crisis as local and international aid workers struggle to provide necessary support.
  • Escalating Conflict and Civilian Impact: The ongoing conflict has escalated tensions and suffering in Gaza, with significant civilian casualties and destruction reported. International calls for restraint and a more effective humanitarian response are growing amidst the violence and continued blockade of essential supplies.

The Associated Press has the story:

Misery deepens in Gaza’s Rafah as Israeli troops press operation

Newslooks- RAFAH, Gaza Strip (AP) —

Aid workers are struggling to distribute dwindling food and other supplies to hundreds of thousands of Palestinians displaced by what Israel says is a limited operation in Rafah, as the two main crossings near the southern Gaza city remain closed.

The United Nations’ agency for Palestinian refugees said 360,000 Palestinians have fled Rafah over the past week, out of 1.3 million who were sheltering there before the operation began, most of whom had already fled fighting elsewhere over the course of the seven-month war between Israel and Hamas.

Smoke rises following an Israeli bombardment in the Gaza Strip as seen from southern Israel, Monday, May 13, 2024. (AP Photo/Leo Correa)

Israel has portrayed Rafah as the last stronghold of the militant group, brushing off warnings from the United States and other allies that any major operation there would be catastrophic for civilians. Hamas has meanwhile regrouped in some of the most devastated parts of Gaza that Israel had previously claimed to have cleared with heavy bombardment and ground operations.

Thirty-eight trucks of flour arrived through the Western Erez Crossing, a second access point to northern Gaza, Abeer Etefa, a spokeswoman for the U.N.’s World Food Program, said Monday. Israel had announced the opening of the crossing on Sunday.

Palestinians mourn their relatives killed in the Israeli bombardments of the Gaza Strip in front of the morgue of the Al Aqsa Hospital in Deir al Balah, Gaza Strip, on Sunday, May 12, 2024. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)

But no food has entered the two main crossings in southern Gaza for the past week.

The Rafah crossing into Egypt has been closed since Israeli troops seized it a week ago. Fighting in Rafah city has made it impossible for aid groups to access the nearby Kerem Shalom crossing with Israel, though Israel says it is allowing supply trucks to enter from its side.

Palestinians displaced by the Israeli air and ground offensive on the Gaza Strip walk through a makeshift tent camp in Deir al Balah, Gaza, Sunday, May 12, 2024. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)

For the past week, the Israeli military has intensified bombardment and other operations in Rafah, while ordering the population to evacuate from parts of the city. Israel insists it is a limited operation focused on rooting out tunnels and other militant infrastructure along the border with Egypt.

Israeli forces were also battling Palestinian militants in Zeitoun and the urban Jabaliya refugee camp in northern Gaza, areas where the army had launched major operations earlier in the war.

A woman touches a picture of a relative as she attends the celebrations of the Israel’s annual Memorial Day for the fallen soldiers, at the site where revelers were killed and kidnapped on Oct. 7 cross-border attack by Hamas militants at the Nova music festival near the Kibbutz Reim, southern Israel, Monday, May 13, 2024. Israel marks the annual Memorial Day for fallen soldiers and victims of nationalistic attacks. (AP Photo/Leo Correa)

Etefa said WFP is distributing food from its remaining stocks in the areas of Khan Younis and Deir al-Balah further north to which many of those escaping Rafah have fled. Inside Rafah, only two organizations partnering with WFP were still able to distribute food, and no bakeries were operating in the city.

“The majority of distributions have stopped due to the evacuation orders, displacement, and running out of food,” she said. “The situation is becoming increasingly unsustainable.”

Family, friends and supporters of hostages held in the Gaza Strip by the Hamas militant group block a road moment ahead of Israel’s annual Memorial Day for the fallen soldiers who died in the nation’s conflicts and victims of nationalistic attacks in Tel Aviv, Israel, Sunday, May 12, 2024. (AP Photo/Ariel Schalit)

Almost the entire population of Gaza relies on humanitarian groups’ distribution of food and other supplies to survive. Amid Israeli restrictions and obstacles to aid distribution from violence, some 1.1 million Palestinians in Gaza face catastrophic levels of hunger, on the brink of starvation, and a “full-blown famine” is taking place in the north, according to the U.N.

The director of the Kuwait Hospital, one of the last functioning medical centers in Rafah, said medical staff and residents living near the facility have been told to evacuate. Sohaib al-Hams warned that any evacuation of the hospital itself would have “catastrophic consequences.”

Palestinians mourn their relatives killed in the Israeli bombardments of the Gaza Strip in front of the morgue of the Al Aqsa Hospital in Deir al Balah, Gaza Strip, on Sunday, May 12, 2024. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)

Israel has also ordered new evacuations in northern Gaza, even after hundreds of thousands of people fled in the opening weeks of the war.

Mahmoud Shalabi, the senior program manager for Medical Aid for Palestinians, a U.K.-based charity, said he was recently ordered to relocate from Beit Lahiya in the far north to Gaza City.

“I have left my house several times now, along with my parents, who are both older than 70, my three children and my wife,” he said. “The journey of terror and displacement is beyond words.”

Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, fifth right, President Isaac Herzog, fourth right, First Lady Michal Herzog, third right, and Israeli army chief Herzi Halevi, second right, attend a ceremony marking Memorial Day for fallen soldiers of Israel’s wars and victims of attacks at Jerusalem’s Mount Herzl military cemetery Monday, May 13, 2024. (Gil Cohen-Magen/Pool Photo via AP)

The war began when Hamas and other militants stormed into southern Israel on Oct. 7, killing around 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and taking another 250 hostage. Militants still hold about 100 captives and the remains of more than 30 after most of the rest were released during a cease-fire last year.

Israel’s offensive has killed more than 35,000 Palestinians, mostly women and children, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry, which doesn’t distinguish between civilians and combatants in its figures. Israel says it has killed over 13,000 militants, without providing evidence.

Israeli army chief Herzi Halevi lays a wreath during a ceremony marking Memorial Day for fallen soldiers of Israel’s wars and victims of attacks at Jerusalem’s Mount Herzl military cemetery Monday, May 13, 2024. (Gil Cohen-Magen/Pool Photo via AP)

Israel marked an especially somber Memorial Day on Monday, with ceremonies across the country commemorating fallen soldiers, including the more than 600 killed since Oct. 7, most in the initial attack.

During the day’s opening ceremony at Mount Herzl cemetery on the outskirts of Jerusalem, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed once again to defeat Hamas.

“We are determined to win this struggle. We exacted and will exact a high price from the enemy for their criminal acts. We will realize the goals of victory and at the center of them the return of all our hostages home,” he said.

Israeli soldiers stand still as a siren marks the annual Memorial Day for fallen soldiers who died in the nation’s conflicts and victims of nationalistic attacks, near the Israel border with the Gaza Strip, Monday, May 13, 2024. (AP Photo/Tsafrir Abayov)

At 11:00 A.M. on Monday, sirens announced two minutes of silence, and a formation of four fighter planes flew over Jerusalem and the surrounding areas.

Protesters and hecklers interrupted some of the ceremonies, reflecting growing discontent with the country’s leaders that has brought thousands of protesters into the streets in recent months. Critics blame Netanyahu for the security and intelligence failures that allowed the attack to happen and for the failure to reach a deal with Hamas to release the hostages.

Months of internationally mediated talks over a cease-fire and hostage release ground to an apparent standstill last week after Israel launched its incursion into Rafah. Israel has refused Hamas’ central demand for an end to the war and the withdrawal of its forces from the territory, saying that doing so would allow the militant group to regain control and launch more Oct. 7-style attacks.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu addresses a ceremony marking Memorial Day for fallen soldiers of Israel’s wars and victims of attacks at Jerusalem’s Mount Herzl military cemetery Monday, May 13, 2024. (Gil Cohen-Magen/Pool Photo via AP)

Netanyahu has vowed to continue the offensive until Israel dismantles Hamas’ military and governing capabilities and returns all the hostages, goals that remain out of reach even after one of the deadliest and most destructive military onslaughts in recent history.

U.S. President Joe Biden’s administration, which has provided crucial military and diplomatic support for the offensive, has expressed growing impatience, saying it won’t supply offensive arms for a full-scale Rafah assault.

Israeli army chief Herzi Halevi attends a ceremony marking Memorial Day for fallen soldiers of Israel’s wars and victims of attacks at Jerusalem’s Mount Herzl military cemetery Monday, May 13, 2024. (Gil Cohen-Magen/Pool Photo via AP)

Secretary of State Antony Blinken warned Sunday that Israel could face an “enduring insurgency” if it doesn’t come up with a realistic plan for postwar governance in Gaza. Israel has rejected U.S. proposals for the Palestinian Authority to govern Gaza with help from Arab states because those plans depend on progress toward the establishment of a Palestinian state, which Netanyahu opposes.

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