Palestinians flee Rafah as Israeli offensive in southern Gaza Strip intensifies

Описание: (28 May 2024)
RESTRICTION SUMMARY:

ASSOCIATED PRESS
Rafah, Gaza Strip - 28 May 2024
1. Various of people fleeing Rafah carrying belongings
2. SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Saber Fojo, displaced Palestinian:
"Help us, for God's sake, dead bodies in the streets, no one has mercy on us or cares about us, save us for God's sake, save the children, save only the children and not us, save them.”
3. Various of Palestinian families collecting their belongings to flee Rafah
4. SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Heba Slim, displaced Palestinian:
"We did not sleep all night because of bombing from tanks and planes. We fled to our neighbour because we were living in a tent, and when the morning came, they bombed the Taiba Mosque, which we were on our way to. We returned again, running here and there, not knowing where to go because of the bombing above our heads, even ambulances and UNRWA were evacuated, and we are under fire."
5. Palestinian families collecting their belongings
6. Various of smoke rising from Israeli bombing
7. Various of Palestinian families gathering belongings
8. SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Harb Fojo, displaced Palestinian:
"We buried the family before. My mother was martyred, my sister’s son, and my cousins. They bombed us from the air, and today they bombed us from the ground and without warning. These are our daughters whom you see, they saw death a hundred times, and before due to lack of cleanliness. These are all girls, and we shaved their hair because of the scabies and lack of cleanliness. Tonight, they saw death a million times."
9. Various of people fleeing
STORYLINE:
Dozens of Palestinian families fled the southern city of Rafah in Gaza following new Israeli strikes which first responders said on Tuesday killed at least 16 people.

An Israeli incursion launched in early May has caused nearly one million to flee from Rafah, most of whom had already been displaced in the war between Israel and Hamas. They now seek refuge in squalid tent camps and other war-ravaged areas.

The United States and other close allies of Israel have warned against a fully-fledged offensive in the city, with the Biden administration saying that would cross a red line and refusing to provide offensive arms for such an undertaking.

On Friday, the International Court of Justice called on Israel to halt its Rafah offensive, an order it has no power to enforce.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has vowed to press ahead, saying Israeli forces must enter Rafah to dismantle Hamas and return hostages taken in the October 7 attack that triggered the war.

The latest strikes occurred in the same area where Israel targeted what it said was a Hamas compound on Sunday night. That strike ignited a fire in a camp for displaced Palestinians and killed at least 45 people, according to local health officials, sparking worldwide outrage.

Netanyahu called it a “tragic mishap" and the military said it was investigating.

Israel says it is carrying out limited operations in eastern Rafah along the Gaza-Egypt border. But residents reported heavy bombardment overnight in western parts of Rafah as well.

Israeli bombardments and ground offensives in Gaza have killed more than 36-thousand Palestinians, according to the Health Ministry, which doesn’t distinguish between combatants and civilians.

AP Video shot by Mohammad Jahjouh. Production by Wafaa Shurafa.

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