Israel seeks to push Palestinians toward 'islands' ahead of Rafah invasion

Israel plans to forcibly uproot a significant portion of the 1.4 million Palestinians living in besieged Gaza's southernmost town of Rafah toward the so-called "humanitarian islands" in the centre of the territory, ahead of its planned invasion of the area.

Israel's chief military spokesman, Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari, said on Wednesday that moving Palestinians in Rafah to the designated areas was a key part of the military’s preparations for its invasion of Rafah, where Israel claims Hamas maintains four battalions.

"We need to make sure that 1.4 million people or at least a significant amount of the 1.4 million will move," Hagari told reporters at a briefing.

Hagari did not say when Rafah exodus would occur, nor when the Rafah invasion would begin, saying that Israel wanted the timing to be right operationally and to be coordinated with neighbouring Egypt, which has said it does not want an influx of displaced Palestinians crossing its border.

The US has been firm with Israel over its concerns about Rafah, and Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Wednesday that Washington had yet to receive from Israel its plans for civilians there.

"We need to see a plan that will get civilians out of harm’s way if there’s a military operation in Rafah," he told reporters in Washington after convening a virtual ministerial meeting on Gaza aid with officials from the UN, the EU, Britain, Qatar, the UAE, and Cryprus.

"We’ve not yet seen such a plan."

The fate of the Palestinians in Rafah has been a major area of concern of Israel's allies — including the United States — and humanitarian groups, who worry that an offensive in the region densely crowded with so many displaced people would be a catastrophe.

Rafah is also Gaza's main entry point for desperately needed aid.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said a Rafah onslaught is crucial to achieve his country stated aim of destroying Hamas. But critics say such an objective is bound to fail.

Rafah has swelled in size in the last months as Palestinians in Gaza have fled Israeli invasion and bombardment in nearly every other corner of the territory.

The town is covered in tents.

Humanitarian disaster

At the start of the war, Israel directed evacuees to a slice of undeveloped besieged land along Gaza's Mediterranean coast that it designated as "safe zone". But aid groups said there were no real plans in place to receive large numbers of displaced there. Israeli strikes also targeted the area.

Meanwhile, fighting has continued across Gaza.

Israel’s invasion of Gaza has killed more than 31,000, left much of the enclave in ruins and displaced some 80 percent of Gaza’s 2.3 million people.

An Israeli strike on Wednesday hit a food distribution site in southern Gaza run by UNRWA, the UN agency that works with Palestinian refugees, killing one staff member from the agency and wounding 22 others.

The death brings to 165 the number of workers for the agency killed during the past five months of fighting, according to UNRWA.

Israel's bombing and encirclement of Gaza has sparked a humanitarian disaster, leading to growing hunger in the enclave.

The crisis has been particularly acute in northern Gaza, Israel's initial target in the early weeks of the war.

The US and other countries have also been airdropping food into northern Gaza in recent weeks to help alleviate the crisis.

Aid groups say air drops and bringing sea shipments are far less efficient than bringing in food by trucks.