Enlarge image
Tent camp in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip
Photo: Bassam Masoud / REUTERS
An attack on the city of Rafah during Ramadan could be seen as particularly provocative by Muslims across the region. And time is running out, the Muslim month of fasting begins on March 10th.
Israel's planned military offensive on the city of Rafah in the south of the Gaza Strip will therefore very likely not begin before Ramadan, according to a report by an Israeli newspaper. An unnamed senior US official shared this assessment with the Times of Israel.
As the newspaper reported on Tuesday evening, Israel's army is still in the process of completing major operations in the town of Khan Yunis north of Rafah, which has been hotly contested for weeks.
At the same time, it is planned to bring the approximately 1.5 million Palestinians to safety in Rafah before the military takes action there against the remaining Hamas battalions. Implementing such a plan, including mechanisms to support people after being placed in other locations, would take weeks, the official was quoted as saying.
The newspaper, citing an Israeli official, also reported that the army planned to house the civilians in Rafah, an area to the north between Khan Yunis and the Wadi Gaza riverbed, which separates north and south Gaza.
According to the US official, if Israel does not undertake this effort before Ramadan, the army could be forced to wait until after the holy month of fasting for Muslims, they said.
US Senators: “Great hope” for an early agreement
US officials are also confident about a humanitarian break before Ramadan. There is "great hope" for an early agreement on the release of the hostages held by Hamas in return for a break in fighting, two Democratic US senators told the Reuters news agency after talks with the Israeli leadership in Jerusalem and Jordan's King Abdullah.
In Rafah, the Israeli army is preparing for an invasion in order to destroy the remaining Hamas battalions and free suspected hostages there. However, the Israeli government has not yet issued an operational order.
Military action in the southernmost city of the Gaza Strip on the border with Egypt is highly controversial because around 1.5 million Palestinians are crowded there in a very small space. Most of these had already fled fighting in other parts of the coastal area. Aid organizations point to a catastrophic humanitarian situation.
jok/dpa