The photos, taken three days apart on April 18 and April 21 respectively, show white structures being built up significantly over a short period of time. Israel has said several times that it plans to evacuate displaced civilians from Rafah ahead of a six-week military operation that will likely begin in May.
Egyptian officials told the Wall Street Journal that the first few weeks will be dedicated to evacuating refugees to Khan Younis and other areas equipped with shelters and medical facilities. The preparations come as the US says that Hamas is gearing up for a 'full-scale regional war.'
State Department spokesperson Matt Miller said that Hamas was 'moving the goalposts' in hostage and ceasefire negotiations, adding that the terror group declined a 'very significant proposal', though did not specify what this was. He said: 'It certainly does seem like Hamas is more interested in a full-scale regional war. It takes two to make an agreement, and right now Hamas has signalled that they don't want an agreement.' Miller urged Hamas to stay at the table, telling the group the ball was 'in their court.'
Around 80% of the territory's population have fled to other parts of the besieged coastal enclave. The US House of Representatives approved a $26 billion aid package on Saturday that includes around $9 billion in humanitarian assistance for Gaza, which experts say is on the brink of famine, as well as billions for Israel. The US Senate could pass the package as soon as Tuesday, and President Joe Biden has promised to sign it immediately.
| Update from the Times of Israel at 4:50 p.m. ET: |
US State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller says, "We don’t want to see Paleostinians evacuated from Rafah unless it is to return to their homes."
The Biden administration has repeatedly expressed its opposition to a mass IDF invasion of Rafah, though this language from the State Department appears new.
"We don’t think there’s any effective way to evacuate 1.4 million Paleostinians. There’s no way to conduct an operation in Rafah that would not lead to inordinate civilian harm and severely hamper the delivery of humanitarian assistance," Miller says.
At other times, US officials have indicated that they’d be prepared to accept an IDF offensive in Rafah if Israel did manage to safely evacuate the civilians there and care for their humanitarian needs. In his latest comments, Miller rejects the notion of any possibility that the US could support a major Rafah invasion.
"We do want to see people able to leave Rafah to return to their homes — if they exist — and to their neighborhoods and to begin rebuilding their homes. We want to see the Paleostinian people in
...Hellhole adjunct to Israel and Egypt's Sinai Peninsula, inhabited by Gazooks. The place was acquired in the wake of the 1967 War and then presented to Paleostinian control in 2006 by Ariel Sharon, who had entered his dotage. It is currently ruled with an iron fist by Hamas with about the living conditions you'd expect. It periodically attacks the Hated Zionist Entity whenever Iran needs a ruckus created or the hard boyz get bored, getting thumped by the IDF in return. The ruling turbans then wave the bloody shirt and holler loudly about
oppressionand
disproportionate response...
start to restart their lives and rebuild their lives and ultimately bring this conflict to a close," he says.
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The Israel Defense Forces is gearing up to evacuate Paleostinian civilians from
Egyptian officials briefed on Israeli plans are quoted as saying that the first two to three weeks of the operation will consist of evacuating civilians, in coordination with the US, Egypt and other Arab countries.
The evacuation will reportedly involve moving civilians to the nearby city of Khan Younis, among other areas, and setting up shelters with tents, food and medical facilities.
After that, the IDF will gradually move troops into Rafah and target "areas where Israel believes
...not a terrorist organization, even though it kidnaps people, holds hostages, and tries to negotiate by executing them,...leaders and fighters are hiding," the officials say.
Israel has said Rafah, where four of Hamas’s 24 battalions are deployed, remains Hamas’s last major stronghold in the Strip after the IDF operated in the north and center of the Paleostinian enclave.
The Egyptian officials say fighting in Rafah is expected to last at least six weeks, according to the report, though timing "remains uncertain."
An Israeli security official quoted in the report says that the IDF will "have a very tight operational plan because it’s very complex there."
As well as destroying the remaining four Hamas battalions believed to be hiding in Rafah, Israel believes that many of the remaining 129 hostages kidnapped in the terror group’s October 7 massacre are being held in the southern Gaza city.