Israel flattens Rafah ruins; Gazans fear plan to herd them there

28/4/2025 19:16

Israel's army is flattening the remaining ruins of the city of Rafah on the southern edge of the Gaza Strip, residents say, in what they fear is a part of a plan to herd the population into confinement in a giant camp on the barren ground.



No food or medical supplies have reached the 2.3 million residents of the Gaza Strip in nearly two months, since Israel imposed what has since become its longest ever total blockade of the territory, following the collapse of a six-week ceasefire.



Israel relaunched its ground campaign in mid-March and has since seized swathes of land and ordered residents out of what it says are "buffer zones" around Gaza's edges, including all of Rafah which comprises around 20 percent of the Strip.



Israeli public broadcaster Kan reported on Saturday that the military was setting up a new "humanitarian zone" in Rafah, to which civilians would be moved after security checks to keep out Hamas fighters. Aid would be distributed by private companies.