IDF jets struck the densely populated Palestinian city ahead of a long-promised ground invasion

Smoke billows from an Israeli bombardment in Rafah, Gaza, May 6, 2024 ©  AFP

Israeli warplanes pounded targets in the Palestinian city of Rafah on Monday night, hours after the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) warned civilians in the area that it was preparing to strike the city with “extreme force.”

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has threatened for several months to send troops into the city, arguing that such an operation is necessary to guarantee Israel a “total victory” over Hamas. 

Rafah is currently home to around 1.4 million Palestinians displaced from northern and central Gaza, and the UN has warned that an Israeli invasion would be a “catastrophe” for these civilians. 

Amid fierce condemnation from the US, EU, and scores of other countries and international organizations, Netanyahu vowed last week to press ahead with the operation. The Israeli PM also stated that he would proceed with an assault on Rafah regardless of whether a ceasefire deal is reached with Hamas.

 

06 May 2024

20:12 GMT

UN observers have reported “seeing movements of people” out of Rafah in search of “safety that has been so many times denied,” UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric has told reporters.

 

Both Israel and Hamas must “go the extra mile needed to make an agreement come true and stop the present suffering,” Dujarric added.

20:07 GMT

Netanyahu’s war cabinet has “unanimously decided that Israel will continue its operation in Rafah in order to exert military pressure on Hamas in order to promote the release of our hostages and the other goals of the war,” the Israeli prime minister’s office said in a statement.

 

In recent weeks, some Israeli officials had suggested that they would call off the Rafah operation if Hamas agreed to release some of the roughly 130 hostages thought to remain in captivity in Gaza.

19:53 GMT

The IDF said that it is conducting “targeted strikes against Hamas terror targets in eastern Rafah.” Shortly before the announcement, Palestinian sources reported a heavy bombardment of Rafah, after which the IDF shot flares over the city.

 

Earlier on Monday, Israeli aircraft struck more than 50 alleged Hamas sites in the Rafah area, IDF spokesman Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari said at a press conference.