Israeli tanks enter Jabalia refugee camp as invasion in Rafah intensifies

Tel Aviv [Israel], May 12 : As the Rafah invasion continues to grow more intense, there are more developments taking place in ongoing operations in the area, with Israeli military tanks going deeper into the Jabalia refugee camp, Al Jazeera reported on Sunday.

They, Israeli tanks, notably crossed Salah al-Din Street into the camp on early Sunday morning as the battle rages between Hamas terrorists and Israeli forces.

During the earlier military incursion in the refugee camp, the residents had been moved to different places, and now, they are bound to leave again amid the ongoing offensive in Gaza.

Numerous Palestinians have been compelled to evacuate various parts of Gaza, such as Jabalia, Beit Lahiya, and Rafah. Initial responders from the Palestinian Civil Defence claimed they were unable to attend to numerous requests for assistance coming from both regions and Rafah, according to Al Jazeera.

People in eastern Rafah were told to evacuate last week by Israel and head west to the packed tent camp known as the "humanitarian zone" of al-Mawasi.

Meanwhile, Israel, over the past seven months, has time and again issued evacuation orders for Palestinians in the strip including critically ill patients from hospitals, often with unclear instructions.

All residents of Gaza City and the north were given a 24-hour notice to leave the area south of Wadi Gaza by the Israeli army on October 13 last year

Whereas, in December again, the residents of the Bureij refugee camp and other central Gaza localities were ordered to evacuate and relocate to Deir el-Balah by Israel. According to the United Nations Agency for Palestinian Refugees, which is the primary relief organisation in Gaza, 300,000 people have left Rafah since the start of the operation, reported Al Jazeera.

The majority are en route to Khan Younis, also known as al-Mawasi, a severely damaged adjacent city where 450,000 people currently reside in filthy conditions.

Notably, Israel has repeatedly refused to agree to a permanent ceasefire in Gaza until Hamas gets defeated, even if all hostages are released, CNN reported.

"The Hamas proposal was very far from Israel's core demands," Netanyahu said on Tuesday last week.

Meanwhile, as Israel started its operation in Rafah despite concerns, it has ordered several more neighbourhoods in eastern Rafah to immediately evacuate as the military steps up its operations in the southern Gazan city. Rafah, the southern Gazan city is believed to be the last holdout for Hamas but it shelters more than 1 million displaced Palestinians.

Some 1,139 people were killed on October 7 when Hamas and allied fighters attacked southern Israel, and 250 captives were also taken to the Gaza Strip. Israeli officials say 128 of them are still being held in the Palestinian territory, including 36 who are dead, according to Al Jazeera.

Israel's seven-month military campaign in Gaza has so far killed at least 34,971 people and wounded 78,641 others.

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