Animals have reportedly started eating the bodies of the dead in the street of Rafah, as Israel begins its evacuation of the city to prepare for an offensive against the last-remaining city in the Gaza Strip.
Dogs have been seen dragging corpses from the graves of people buried in Gaza, according to Palestinian civilians who spoke to the BBC.
Rehab Abu Daqqa, a refugee living in Gaza, told the broadcaster: ‘ This morning the dogs took out a body from one of the graves and were eating it. From night until dawn the dogs do not let us sleep… our children keep holding on to me because of how scared they are.’
The packs of dogs, a mix of formerly domesticated and already-wild, scavenge for whatever they can eat in the only city left standing in the enclave, which will soon be invaded by the IDF.
The Israeli military this morning told Palestinians to evacuate eastern Rafah, amid an expected military offensive that aims to wipe out any remaining Hamas fighters in the region.
Civilians were told to move to Muwasi, an Israeli-declared humanitarian area near the coast. The army said it had expanded assistance into the area, including field hospitals, tents, food and water. The IDF added that it is expecting to evacuate around 100,000 from eastern Rafah.
Palestinians refugees have been forced to continue their daily lives under difficult conditions
Palestinians who fled Israeli attacks and took refuge in Rafah city are seen trying to maintain their daily lives in makeshift tents under limited means and harsh conditions
Smoke rises following an Israeli airstrike on April 14
Civilians have already been seen leaving Rafah in droves, using any means of transport they can find including donkeys.
Israel believes thousands of Hamas terrorists are still in Rafah, currently home to more than half the population of the Gaza Strip, after months of fighting pushed civilians further and further south.
But a military invasion may result in a humanitarian disaster, and put hundreds of thousands of lives at risk, the UN’s Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said on Friday.
Negotiations for a potential ceasefire are at an impasse, as Israel rejected Hamas’ demands for an end to the assault on the Gaza Strip in exchange for the release of the remaining hostages.
Hamas’ representatives were in Cairo with Egyptian and Qatari for indirect negotiations, as Israel representatives were not present meetings, according to Al Jazeera.
Civilians have already been seen leaving Rafah in droves, using any means of transport they can find including donkeys
Israel believes thousands of Hamas terrorists are still in Rafah
Palestinians stand next to a street vendor in Rafah, in the southern Gaza Strip on May 4, 2024
Palestinians inspect the damaged building of the Al-Attar family that is destroyed by the Israeli attack, next to the United Nations (UN) clinic in Yabna camp in Rafah
While Israeli officials did not take part in the indirect diplomacy, the nation’s prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he was willing to pause the IDF’s activity in exchange for the hostages, but that Hamas was not willing to engage in talks.
‘While Israel has shown willingness, Hamas remains entrenched in its extreme positions, first among them the demand to remove all our forces from the Gaza Strip, end the war, and leave Hamas in power,’ Netanyahu said.
‘Israel cannot accept that,’ he added.
Hours before the evacuation order, a Hamas attack on an aid crossing that killed Israeli troops was branded proof that the terror group is using Palestinians as ‘human shields’.
Ten rockets were launched from close to civilian shelters in southern Gaza towards the Kerem Shalom crossing on Saturday – killing three soldiers and injuring 11, the Israeli military said.
Palestinians sit with belongings at the site of an Israeli strike on a house, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas
People sit in front of a demolished building as Palestinians search for usable items among the debris of destroyed building
A Palestinian child looks on at the site of an Israeli strike on a house, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas
As a result, it was closed to aid trucks travelling from Israel, just as the head of the UN World Food Programme warned of a ‘full-blown famine’ in northern Gaza.
The Israeli military branded the attack ‘a clear example of the terrorist organisation’s systematic exploitation of humanitarian facilities and spaces, and their continued use of the Gazan civilian population as human shields’.
Hardline former Israeli prime minister Naftali Bennett said: ‘Yes, they’re bombing their own lifeline of food and aid. This is another example of Hamas’s perverse strategy: to kill their own people in order to hurt Israel.’
Israel’s foreign ministry added: ‘Hamas shoots rockets from civilian centres at humanitarian crossings. This tells you everything you need to know.’
But Hamas sources insisted the target was an Israeli military base and denied using civilians as human shields.
