“SECOND GAZA”
Soon after the war began, when Hamas militants from Gaza attacked southern Israel on Oct 7, Israel told Palestinians in northern Gaza to move to “safe zones” further south such as Rafah.
Around 1.5 million of Gaza’s 2.4 million people are now estimated to be sheltering in the city.
However, Israel has for two months threatened to invade the city in its mission to destroy Hamas.
The G7 group of developed economies said on Friday that it opposed a “full-scale military operation” there, fearing “catastrophic consequences” for Rafah’s civilians.
Violence has also flared in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, where a two-year surge in clashes has further escalated since the war broke out.
The Palestinian Red Crescent said on Saturday that at least 14 people were killed during an Israeli raid on a refugee camp in the northern West Bank.
The Israeli army said it killed 10 militants during the operation at Nur Shams camp, which started on Thursday.
A camp resident who declined to give his name said the West Bank had become a “second Gaza”.
“This is the first time in our history that we have seen such destruction, such devastation,” the grey-bearded man told AFP.
Separately, Israeli forces shot dead two Palestinian teenagers near the West Bank city of Hebron, the Palestinian health ministry said on Sunday, bringing to at least 483 the number of Palestinians killed by Israeli troops and settlers in the West Bank since Oct 7, according to ministry data.
The Israeli army said the two assailants had attempted to stab and shoot troops near the village of Beit Einun.
According to the Shin Bet internal security agency, at least 19 Israelis have been killed in Palestinian attacks in the West Bank since the Gaza war started.
