The Israeli army continued its incursion into southern Gaza, forcing thousands of residents to flee towards Rafah, after besieging Khan Younis, the largest city in the south, and turning vast areas of the besieged enclave into rubble and uninhabitable buildings. The army expanded its ground operation to encompass the densely populated area, leading to a significant displacement of civilians into an increasingly constricted space around Rafah, near the border with Egypt, as residents gathered based on Israeli leaflets and messages urging them to move there, where they would "be safe."
For its part, the "United Nations" reported that 1.9 million people, or about 85 percent of Gaza's total population, have been displaced southward due to the war. The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs indicated that most of the displaced in Rafah are sleeping in the open due to a shortage of tents, despite the UN managing to distribute a few hundred of them. Meanwhile, the Palestinian side announced that the death toll has exceeded 17,000.
In Egypt, the head of the "General Authority for Information," Diaa Rashwan, emphasized yesterday that his country will never allow the "emptying" of the Gaza Strip of its residents, and that attempts to displace them to Sinai are a red line that Egypt will not allow to be crossed, "no matter the consequences."
