80,000 fled Rafah since Israel hiked operation: UN agency

RAFAH (AFP): The United Nations agency supporting Palestinian refugees said Thursday that about 80,000 people had fled Rafah in the three days since Israel intensified military operations in the south Gaza city.

“Since Israeli forces military operation intensified on 6 May, around 80,000 people have fled Rafah, seeking refuge elsewhere,” UNRWA said on X, formerly Twitter, warning that “the toll on these families is unbearable. Nowhere is safe”.

Smoke rose from strikes on Gaza’s crowded southern city of Rafah Thursday after US President Joe Biden vowed to cut off artillery shells and other weapons supplied to Israel if a full-scale offensive into the city goes ahead.

It was the starkest warning yet from Israel’s main military provider over the civilian impact of its war against Hamas Palestinian militants.

An AFP correspondent and witnesses on Thursday reported strikes on several parts of Rafah, where the United Nations said 1.4 million people were sheltering.

“The tanks and jets are striking,” Tarek Bahlul said earlier on a deserted Rafah street. “Every minute you hear a rocket, and you don’t know where it will land.”

Israel has already defied international objections by sending in tanks and conducting what it called “targeted raids” in the eastern area of Rafah.

In an interview with CNN on Wednesday, Biden warned he would stop some US weapons supplies to Israel if it pushed ahead with its long-threatened major Rafah ground offensive.

Biden told CNN that, “If they go into Rafah, I’m not supplying the weapons that have been used… to deal with the cities.” He added: “We’re not going to supply the weapons and the artillery shells that have been used.”