The Israeli military plans to turn Rafah, a densely populated Palestinian city in the southern Gaza Strip, into a buffer zone, according to the Israeli newspaper Haaretz.
The city on the border with Egypt is thousands of years old and was home to 200,000 Palestinians before the Israeli war on Gaza started in October 2023.
“According to defense sources, it has yet to be decided whether the entire area will simply be designated a buffer zone that is off-limits to civilians – as has been done in other parts of the border area – or whether the area will be fully cleared and all buildings demolished, effectively wiping out the city of Rafah,” Haaretz reported.
Israeli ground and aerial forces have been relentlessly attacking Rafah since they resumed bombing the besieged enclave last month.
They have killed nearly 1,500 Palestinians since then, and more than 50,800 since October 2023. ….more
