Israel Attacks Rafah to Force Palestinian Exodus: PNA

On Monday, the Palestinian National Authority (PNA) accused Israel of intensifying attacks on Rafah to force the exodus of 1.4 million Palestinians crowded in that area.

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In the early hours of Monday, Israeli occupation forces carried out brutal bombardments in Rafah, where the Gaza-based Health Ministry reported the killing of 67 people and dozens trapped under rubble.

The target of this attack signifies "an official Israeli effort to target civilians and shift the war to the Rafah area, which is densely populated, to push them to migrate and displace," the PNA's Foreign Affairs Ministry said.

Rafah, bordering Egypt and the only point in the Strip where Israeli forces have not yet entered by land, appears to be the next destination of the occupation troops, aiming to control the entirety of Gaza.

The PNA also asserted that yesterday, a hundred bodies of Palestinians were found under rubble in the Tel Al Hawa neighborhood in Gaza city, and also reported the death of 15 people in an attack on the city of Deir Balah, where many internally displaced people also gather.

"These massacres and the high number of deaths and casualties among civilians are further evidence of the validity of international warnings and fears about the catastrophic consequences of the expansion and deepening of the war in Rafah," the PNA stated, considering it "a direct reflection of Israel's mindset of revenge."

Meanwhile, Palestinian Prime Minister Mohamed Shtayeh stated today that these recent times have been "the bloodiest in contemporary Palestinian history."

Since the outbreak of the war on October 7, 2023, the total number of Palestinians killed by the Israeli offensive in Gaza is 28,340, and the wounded approach 68,000.