Hamas has called on Palestinians to stay in their homes after Israel issued sweeping evacuation orders for almost half of Gaza’s more than 2.3 million people ahead of an expected ground offensive.
The Hamas authority for refugee affairs today told residents in the north of the territory to “remain steadfast in your homes and to stand firm in the face of this disgusting psychological war waged by the occupation”.
Question: is it actually true that Israel doesn’t want Palestinians to leave via the southern border to Egypt? I’ve heard on the news twice (BBC Hardtalk and somewhere else I can’t recall now) that the opposite is true. From what I’ve heard, Israel wants the Palestinians to leave, but Egypt does not want to allow them into their country because it would be a huge burden to feed, house, and police a million+ angry refugees.
It also makes more sense from Israel’s point of view to get the Palestinians out of Gaza. Israel’s greatest danger is, and always has been, the opprobrium of the international community if they kill too many civilians. It would be a huge victory for Israel if the civilians all leave, which is why Hamas wants them to stay!
Egypt wants to, but Israel keeps bombing the Palestinian side of the border and won’t agree to letting Egyptian aid in to clear it so people can escape from Israels attacks.
Israel just want all Palestinian land, no matter how. If they leave, great. If they’re all dead, fine. All they care about is the land. Of course Israel would prefer them to just leave and not be their issue anymore, but they caused the issue driving Palestinians into Gaza in the first place, and could just as easily let them out again.
Answer:
Israel keeps saying it’s open, but bombed it three times in 24 hrs too…
Israel on Tuesday dropped bombs next to the only border crossing allowing civilians to flee Gaza after the Israeli military directed Palestinians, looking to escape air strikes in the war against Hamas, toward the crossing.
Lt. Col. Richard Hecht, an IDF spokesman, urged Palestinians to leave the Gaza Strip for Egypt early Tuesday, with the Times of Israel reporting he said: “Rafah crossing is still open. Anyone who can get out, I would advise them to get out.”
This airstrike was the third Israeli attack on the crossing in the last 24 hours and consisted of four missiles, Al Jazeera reported, citing officials from the local Egyptian group, Sinai for Human Rights.
So the crossing is open on the Egypt side, but complete rubble and inaccessible on the Palestinian side
The Egyptian side of the crossing is open, but the Palestinian side is “non-functional” following multiple Israeli airstrikes earlier this week, a senior Jordanian official told CNN Thursday, adding that “the Jordanians and Egyptians are waiting for security clearance from the Israelis to allow (aid) trucks to cross without threat of another airstrike.”
Israel is telling them to do something that’s literally impossible.
