Israel intensifies attacks and orders evacuations to occupy "large areas" of Gaza

BarcelonaIsraeli Defense Minister Israel Katz announced this Wednesday the intensification of attacks in the Gaza Strip and the expansion of the ground offensive. The army has ordered mass evacuations of civilians to militarily occupy entire areas of the Strip and turn them into "security zones," including the southern city of Rafah, where the operation is underway. In the far north of the Strip, in the towns of Beit Hanoun and Beit Lahia, the army has also ordered civilians to leave. Shortly after, Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu announced that the army had occupied the "Morag Corridor," which runs east to west through the enclave above the city of Rafah, with the aim of dividing the south of the enclave, as it had done in the center with the Netzarim Corridor. "We are dividing the Strip and are increasing the pressure step by step to obtain our hostages," he asserted.

According to health sources, Israeli troops have killed at least 68 Palestinians since dawn, with the deadliest attack killing 22 people at a UN clinic hosting displaced people in the town of Jabalia.

In a voice message sent via WhatsApp to ARA, Rafah mayor Ahmed Al Sufi said the situation was "critical." "Rafah has been occupied repeatedly, and many people in the eastern and western neighborhoods are under siege. They have had no food, water, or medical assistance for 10 days. The situation is critical. We need international intervention and for the people of the free world to demand a ceasefire and the withdrawal of troops."

From the Al Mawasi beach camp in the south, a UN driver, who asked not to be named for fear of reprisals, explained to ARA that families displaced by evacuation orders and bombing continue to arrive. "Israel is preparing a mass deportation: they are looking for a place to send the Palestinians, somewhere poor, we don't know if it's in Somalia, Sudan, or on the other side of the world." He emphasized the lack of drinking water: "The water is no good; it's like drinking seawater: we have to filter it, and we can't boil it because a cooking gas cylinder costs more than 50 euros." He also explained in the video call—with the constant buzzing of drones in the background—that this morning he tried to buy food but couldn't find anything in the stores. The bakeries closed days ago.

In Rafah, dozens of families are trapped in two neighborhoods by the advance of Israeli troops, according to Al Jazeera reports on the ground. A bombing raid on a house in the southern town of Khan Yunis killed at least 12 Palestinians. Israeli aircraft also bombed two areas south of Gaza City and a UNRWA clinic in Jabalia, in the north of the Strip, where displaced people were sheltering. 19 people were killed, including eight children, and survivors are still being searched for in the rubble.

Israel has intensified its attacks after unilaterally breaking the ceasefire with Hamas on March 18, a two-month pause in nearly a year and a half of offensive that has led international courts to prosecute Israel for the crime of genocide and Netanyahu as a criminal. According to the authorities of the Strip, under Hamas control, there have already been more than 50,000 deaths, most of them children, women and the elderly.

Tahani Mustafa, researcher at the International Crisis Group, explains that "Israel's objective in the last 17 months is to actually depopulate Gaza, turning the Strip into an uninhabitable area. We see Gaza completely flattened, and the Palestinians who remain – who have not been assassinated or displaced by the força–, they will end up in a trosset of territory every cop more petit", he predicts. According to the Israeli group Gisha, the army would have occupied approximately 17% of the total surface of Gaza (about 60 square kilometers) on the limits of the enclave, converted into a "buffer zone."

Attacks in Syria

In addition, Israeli troops bombed Syria on Wednesday night, with at least one attack in Damascus and another in the northwestern province of Hama, according to the Syrian news agency SANA. In the capital, the missiles landed near the Scientific Research Building, while in Hama, they targeted an area on the outskirts of the city of the same name, the regional capital. According to state-run Al Ijbariya TV, explosions also occurred around the T4 military airport in rural Homs.

Criticism from the hostages' families

The forum representing the families of the Israeli hostages still being held in Gaza – 59 in total, of whom around 30 are believed to be alive – issued a statement declaring themselves “horrified” by the attack and wondering whether “a decision has been made to sacrifice the hostages for the sake of gains.” “Instead of securing the release of the hostages through an agreement and ending the war, the Israeli government is sending more soldiers into Gaza to fight in the same areas where they have already fought several times,” they warned, adding that they are deeply concerned by the realization that the release of the hostages “is at the very bottom of the list of priorities.”

In a message on his X account, Katz said: “The expansion of operations this morning will increase the pressure on the Hamas murderers and also on the people of Gaza.” And he urged Gaza residents to "act now to drive out Hamas and return all the hostages: it is the only way to end the war." The army has deployed another division to southern Gaza.

Chief of Staff Eyal Zamir sounded the same tone just after Netanyahu announced the occupation of the Morag corridor in Gaza. Zamir assured that only the release of the 59 hostages still held by Palestinian militias will stop their advance in Gaza.

This Wednesday, UNICEF, Save the Children, and other NGOs working with children in Gaza published a report in which they estimate that 95% of primary schools in the Strip have suffered "direct attacks" from Israel since October 7, 2023. The document indicates that primary schools in Gaza were attacked, 85 of which were completely destroyed. A total of 73 centers have lost at least half of their facilities, and 499 will need reconstruction to reopen. The report also highlights that Israeli troops have used educational centers for military purposes, either as bases or as detention and interrogation centers.

No bread ovens or medicines

In a statement released Tuesday, Hamas officials denounced that all bread bakeries in Gaza have had to shut down due to a lack of flour, due to the blockade imposed by Israel on the entry of food, gasoline, or any type of humanitarian aid into the Strip for more than a month. Tel Aviv announced the closure of the goods crossings to pressure Hamas into a policy of siege of hunger and thirst. Doctors Without Borders also warned this Wednesday that medical supplies are running out and that its teams are having to treat wounds without pain relief and are rationing medicines. The medical aid NGO demands that the Israeli authorities "immediately stop this inhumane collective punishment of Palestinians."