Protecting Gazans in Rafah: It was clear from day one that the IDF wouldn’t be able to eliminate or weaken Hamas militarily without a military operation across the entirety of the coastal enclave. The initial focus on the north allowed Hamas to move significant numbers of its fighters, leaders, resources, assets, and even Israeli hostages to the south. It goes without saying that Netanyahu would never be able to claim “victory” without an operation in Rafah, the final stronghold of Hamas’s government and militancy. But Rafah is also the last place where the people of Gaza have a sense of "safety," even though the City has seen numerous bombings and attacks that killed hundreds, including a December bombing that killed dozens of my family members. Most of my surviving immediate and extended family are in Rafah, sheltering in horrendous conditions that will get exponentially worse with an impending invasion.
No matter how much planning goes into the assault on Rafah, which will undoubtedly entail the heavy use of Israeli armor, infantry, and aerial and artillery bombardment, the consequences are going to be disastrous on every conceivable level. Yet, given the inevitability of such an assault, all I can think of now is how to minimize the loss of civilian lives and how to account for the fact that Egypt will never open its borders to fleeing Gazans.
Israeli authorities, in cooperation with the U.N., the U.S., international NGOs, and Arab partners, must quickly consider and set up three types of temporary shelters/safe zones/centers/camps in three different locations to shelter civilians in Rafah while the operation is underway:
1. Yellow displacement centers/safe zones inside Gaza along the border with Israel, east of Rafah. Such shelters can be placed along a 3-kilometer-wide corridor that allows for the movement of IDF troops on either side without creating operational issues. These camps will be close to the Kerem Shalom crossing, which should be used to bring in aid, food, and medical supplies to sustain the population inside.
2. Orange displacement centers/safe zones on Rafah’s coast along the sea. These camps can be quickly created, and could be sustained by small boats and supply vessels that can land ashore without needing a dock. Furthermore, this area is far enough from the dense urban centers, where most combat operations are likely to occur.
3. Red displacement centers/safe zones on the Israeli side of the border that can temporarily house women and children and male children under the age of 15. Given the spatial limitations inside Gaza, these centers can temporarily provide shelter surge capacity. The international community can play a pivotal role in supporting/supplying/operating these camps. At the same time, Israeli authorities can ensure maximum security all around these places, which would only be temporary and would be dismantled once the Rafah operation is complete.
The biggest open question is what happens to the 14-km Philadelphi Corridor along the Gaza/Egypt borders. More significantly, what becomes of the Rafah crossing, which has been Gaza’s primary lifeline to bring in food and humanitarian supplies? Israeli authorities should allow Egyptian security forces to enter Gaza to operate the Rafah crossing and to police the Corridor on the Palestinian side of the border.
Launching an invasion of Rafah without serious efforts and plans to protect civilians will not only be disastrous for Gaza’s civilians who have been inhumanely squeezed into a small, crowded, and ill-equipped city, but it will have worldwide political, diplomatic, and geostrategic consequences for Israel, ones that would create irreversible damage.
@KPYPEKxuvXYY97r@Lawmohyemen@Salqahtani1994 وش من اصل طيب ذا خنزير هجين لا يمت لايوجد له عرق عروبي وكلامه مجرد نفاق ولو اتيحة له فرصه يخرج من الرياض لاكان او النابحين والقادحين في سلمان وبنه 😂