Rafah tower destruction raises fears of Israeli ground assault
People sheltering in a residential tower in Rafah that was blown up by Israel say they were given 30 minutes to flee, which caused mass panic with at least one pregnant woman falling down the stairs.
“People were startled, running down the stairs, some fell – it was chaos. People left their belongings and money,” said Mohammad al-Nabrees, one of the building’s 300 residents, after the building was destroyed. Among those who tripped down the stairs during the panicked evacuation was a friend’s pregnant wife, al-Nabrees said. The strike raised alarm among residents of a wider Israeli assault on Rafah, where more than half of Gaza’s 2.3 million people are sheltering.
Five months into Israel’s air and ground assault on Gaza, health authorities there say nearly 31,000 Palestinians have been killed and thousands of bodies are feared to be buried under rubble.
Palestinians walk away with items salvaged from the rubble of a residential building hit in an Israeli air strike in Rafah
Palestinian fighters defending against Israeli army across Gaza
The latest report by the Critical Threats Project shows how Palestinian fighters are defending against Israeli raids across the Gaza Strip, including in the north.
Fighting has raged in Beit Hanoon in the north where Israeli forces mounted a new effort over the past week to again try to clear the area of Palestinian fighters and locate military infrastructure months after the ground invasion began there.
Combat is also under way in eastern Jabalia where Palestinians have been firing mortars and rockets at Israeli forces. South of Gaza City, the Zeitoun neighbourhood has seen intense ground battles.
In Khan Younis in the south, a brigade of Israeli troops has been raiding the Hamad neighbourhood. Hamas and other Palestinian fighters, including those with the military wing of Fatah, are mounting the defence.
NEW | Palestinian fighters defended against Israeli raids in several sectors of the northern Gaza Strip. pic.twitter.com/eRNSu4kYS0
— Critical Threats (@criticalthreats) March 9, 2024
Mossad says truce talks still ongoing as Ramadan approaches
Efforts to secure a deal on a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas in Gaza are still ongoing, Israel’s intelligence agency Mossad says, despite dimming hopes for a truce during the holy month of Ramadan. “Contacts and cooperation with the mediators continue all the time in an effort to narrow the gaps and reach agreements,” a statement said. Egypt, the United States, and Qatar have been mediating truce negotiations since January.
Hamas blames Israel for the impasse in talks for a lasting truce and the release of 134 captives believed still held in Gaza, saying it refuses to give guarantees to end the war or pull its forces from the war-ravaged enclave. In a statement on Saturday marking Ramadan, Hamas chief Ismail Haniyeh pledged that Palestinians will continue to fight Israel “until they regain freedom and independence”.
Israel ramps up military presence ahead of Ramadan with truce unlikely
Israeli army spokesman Daniel Hagari says the military is “strengthening” its forces and preparations before Ramadan as hopes for a truce before the start of the holy Muslim month appear to fade. “Hamas prevents an agreement and acts contrary to what was suggested by the mediators,” he was quoted as saying by the Times of Israel.
“By refusing an agreement, Hamas prevents a humanitarian ceasefire and continues to increase the suffering of the Gazan population,” Hagari added. Israeli outlet Ynet earlier reported the far-right national security minister, Itamar Ben-Gvir, wrote to senior officials to call for additional security at the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound as the war on Gaza rages.
