As the assault continues on the Palestinian enclave's southern city of Rafah, officials from the United States, Egypt, Israel, and Qatar meet in Cairo on Tuesday to agree on a truce in Gaza. Meanwhile, international calls continue to grow for Israel to halt its offensive.
Over one million displaced Palestinians are crammed into Rafah, with many residing in tents and makeshift shelters under extremely poor conditions, having fled there from Israeli bombardments in other areas of Gaza during more than four months of Israeli assault on the territory.
Reuters reports Israel claims it wants to flush out Hamas militants from hideouts in Rafah and free Israeli hostages being held there, and has no plans to evacuate trapped Palestinian civilians. It remains direly unclear where Palestinian civilians can go in the aftermath of a shattered territory.
Israeli tanks shelled the eastern sector of Rafah overnight, causing waves of panic, residents said.
Gaza health officials announced 133 new Palestinian deaths in the past 24 hours, bringing the total to 28,473 killed and 68,146 wounded since Oct. 7.
Many are buried under the rubble of destroyed buildings across the densely populated enclave, much of which is in ruins. Food supplies, water, and other essentials are running out, and diseases are spreading.
Around half of Gaza's 2.3 million people are now packed into Rafah, many of whom fled other areas under fire.
"Since Israel said they are invading Rafah soon...we read our last prayers every night. Every night we say farewell to one another and relatives outside Rafah," 30-year-old Aya, who is living in a tent with her mother, grandmother, and five siblings, told Reuters.
Is The International Community Reacting?
South Africa on Tuesday asked the World Court to consider whether Israel's plan to extend its offensive into Rafah required additional emergency measures to protect Palestinians' rights.
Juliette Touma, a spokesperson for the U.N.'s Palestinian refugee agency UNRWA, said it had not been informed of any Israeli evacuation plan for Rafah and was not part of it.
"Where are you going to evacuate people to as no place is safe across the Gaza Strip, the north is shattered, riddled with unexploded weapons, it's pretty much unlivable," she said, adding that UNRWA would not participate in a forced evacuation.
"Enough is enough. Any further escalation would be absolutely apocalyptic."
On Monday, U.S. President and complicit ally, Joe Biden said Washington was working on a hostage deal to bring "immediate and sustained" calm to Gaza for at least six weeks.
He has "urged Israel not to undertake a ground offensive in Rafah without a plan to protect civilians."
