The U.N. Relief and Works Agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) estimates that the city’s population has grown to at least 1.4 million, more than five times its prewar count, with thousands of people sleeping in tents with little protection.
That’s nearly 3/4ths of the whole population of the Gaza Strip at this point.
This is the best summary I could come up with:
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has called for a “massive operation” in the southern Gaza city of Rafah, one of the last refuges for civilians in the besieged enclave, his office said Friday.
U.S. officials have expressed concern about the potential loss of civilian life if the Israeli military hits Rafah, a city bordering on Egypt now swollen with displaced Gazans after four months of conflict.
Relief and Works Agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) estimates that the city’s population has grown to at least 1.4 million, more than five times its prewar count, with thousands of people sleeping in tents with little protection.
Yasmine Hussein, who has been displaced four times since fleeing northern Gaza at the start of the war, said she heard “multiple bombings throughout the night.”
National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said Thursday that a major military operation in Rafah “would be a disaster.” Under current conditions, he said, the United States “would not support it.” The United States has “seen no plans that would convince us that [Israelis] are about to or plan to imminently conduct any military operations in Rafah,” Kirby said.
President Biden on Thursday offered some of his most direct criticism of the Israeli military operation in Gaza yet, calling it “over the top.” He is pushing for a pause in hostilities in exchange for the release of some of the hostages still held by Hamas and other groups after the Oct. 7 attack on Israel.
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