Inside Rafah: 2 months after Israel’s invasion, few remain among piles of rubble – National

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Inside Rafah: 2 months after *******’s invasion, few remain among piles of rubble – National

Two months ago, before ******** troops invaded Rafah, the city sheltered most of Gaza’s more than 2 million people. Today it is a dust-covered ghost town.

Abandoned, bullet-ridden apartment buildings have blasted out walls and shattered windows. Bedrooms and kitchens are visible from roads dotted with rubble piles that tower over the ******** military vehicles passing by. Very few civilians remain.

******** soldiers gather in the southern Gaza Strip, Wednesday, July 3, 2024. The ******** military invited reporters for a tour of Rafah, where the military has been operating since May 6. (AP Photo/Ohad Zwigenberg, Pool).

******* says it has nearly defeated ****** forces in Rafah — an area identified earlier this year as the militant group’s’ last stronghold in Gaza.

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The ******** military invited reporters into Rafah on Wednesday, the first time international media visited Gaza’s southernmost city since it was invaded May 6. ******* has barred international journalists from entering Gaza independently since the ****** ******* on Oct. 7 that sparked the conflict.

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0:51
Trudeau says Canada ‘horrified’ by ******** strikes on Rafah tent camp

The ******** military invited reporters into Rafah on Wednesday, the first time international media visited Gaza’s southernmost city since it was invaded May 6. ******* has barred international journalists from entering Gaza independently since the ****** ******* on Oct. 7 that sparked the conflict.

Before invading Rafah, ******* said ******’ four remaining battalions had retreated there, an area of about 25 square miles (65 square kilometers) that borders Egypt. ******* says hundreds of militants have been ******* in its Rafah offensive. Scores of women and children have also ***** from ******** airstrikes and ground operations.

******** army vehicles transport a group of soldiers and journalists inside the southern Gaza Strip, Wednesday, July 3, 2024. The ******** military invited reporters for a tour of Rafah, where the military has been operating since May 6. (AP Photo/Ohad Zwigenberg, Pool).

The military says it has been necessary to operate with such intensity because ****** turned civilian areas into treacherous traps. Eight soldiers were ******* last month by a single blast.

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“Some of these tunnels are ******-trapped,” the military’s chief spokesman, Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari, said during Wednesday’s tour as he stood over a shaft that led underground. “****** built everything in a civilian neighborhood among houses, among mosques, among the population, in order to create its ******* ecosystem.”

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An estimated 1.4 million Palestinians crammed into Rafah after fleeing fighting elsewhere in Gaza. The U.N. estimates that around 50,000 remain in Rafah, which had a pre-conflict population of about 275,000.

Most have moved to a nearby *******-declared “humanitarian area” where conditions are grave. Many are clustering in squalid tent camps along the beach with scant access to clean water, food, bathrooms and medical care.

******** tanks are seen next to destroyed buildings in the southern Gaza Strip, Wednesday, July 3, 2024. The ******** military invited reporters for a tour of Rafah, where the military has been operating since May 6. (AP Photo/Ohad Zwigenberg, Pool).

Efforts to bring aid into southern Gaza have stalled. *******’s incursion into Rafah closed down one of two major crossings into the south of Gaza. The U.N. says little aid can enter from the other main crossing — Kerem Shalom — because the route is too dangerous and convoys are vulnerable to attacks by armed groups searching for smuggled-in cigarettes.

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******** soldiers walk in the southern Gaza Strip, Wednesday, July 3, 2024. The ******** military invited reporters for a tour of Rafah, where the military has been operating since May 6. (AP Photo/Ohad Zwigenberg, Pool).

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On Wednesday, a line of trucks on the Gaza side of Kerem Shalom was visible, but the trucks were hardly moving — a sign of how *******’s pledge to keep the route safe in order to facilitate the delivery of aid inside Gaza has fallen flat.

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2:13
U.S.-made ****** used in ******** strike on Rafah camp

U.N. officials say some commercial trucks have braved the route into Rafah, but not without hired armed guards riding atop their convoys.

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******* says it is close to dismantling the group as an organized military force in Rafah. In a reflection of that confidence, soldiers brought journalists in open-air military vehicles down the road that leads into the heart of the city.

Along the way, debris lying by the side of the road made clear the perils of aid delivery: carcasses of trucks lying baking in the hot sun; dashboards covered in fencing meant to protect drivers; aid pallets lying empty.

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2:44
World Court rules ******* must halt its military ******** in Rafah

The longer the aid delivery is frozen, humanitarian groups say, the closer Gaza comes to running out of fuel, which is needed for hospitals, water desalination plants and vehicles.

“The hospitals are once again short on fuel, risking disruption of critical services,” said Dr. Hanan Balkhy, the World Health Organization’s regional director for the Eastern Mediterranean. “Injured people are dying because the ambulance services are facing delays due to fuel shortages.”

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As the humanitarian situation worsens, ******* is pushing ahead with its offensive. Combat in Rafah is ongoing.

After journalists heard nearby gunshots on Wednesday, the soldiers told the group they would not be visiting the beach, as had been planned.

The group departed the city soon after, with clouds of dust kicked up by vehicles temporarily obscuring the mass of destruction behind them.

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#Rafah #months #Israels #invasion #remain #among #piles #rubble #National

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