Satellite photographs examined by The Associated Press on Tuesday demonstrate the formation of a new tent settlement near Khan Younis in the Gaza Strip, corresponding with the Israeli military’s persistent signals of an impending offensive against the city of Rafah. Pictures acquired from Planet Labs PBC and scrutinized by the AP reveal the tent compound’s initial stages of construction commencing on April 16th, situated west of Khan Younis. Subsequent images captured on Sunday depict an expansion in the tent compound’s size. Citing anonymous sources, the Haaretz newspaper has suggested that Egypt is responsible for constructing the tent settlement in anticipation of a potential Israeli offensive on Rafah. The Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) has denied any involvement in the tent construction. However, its emergence aligns with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s threats of “additional painful blows” against Hamas following the breakdown of negotiations aimed at securing the release of remaining hostages held in the Gaza Strip. The long-threatened assault on Rafah, where half of the Gaza Strip’s 2.3 million inhabitants have sought refuge amidst the conflict, could be included in these actions. The United States, Israel’s steadfast ally, has repeatedly emphasized the necessity of safeguarding civilians during any military operation. Netanyahu has pledged to instruct the military to evacuate civilians from Rafah prior to the offensive, but their relocation destination remains unclear. According to a Monday report by The Wall Street Journal, the IDF is preparing to evacuate Palestinian civilians from Rafah ahead of its intended offensive against Hamas there. The Journal, citing Israeli and Egyptian officials, states that the Israeli strategy anticipates the initial two to three weeks of the operation being dedicated to civilian evacuations, with coordination from the US, Egypt, and other Arab nations. The evacuations are said to involve relocating civilians to the neighboring city of Khan Younis and other parts of Gaza, where Israel will establish shelters with tents, food, and medical facilities. The officials indicate that the IDF will subsequently advance troops into Rafah, targeting areas believed to harbor Hamas leaders and operatives. Israel maintains that Rafah, where Hamas’s four intact battalions are stationed, stands as the terror group’s last significant stronghold within the Strip, following IDF operations in the northern and central regions of the Palestinian enclave. It also suspects that Rafah holds many of the remaining 133 hostages taken in the Hamas-led atrocities of October 7th. Egyptian officials have estimated that the fighting in Rafah could span at least six weeks, although the operation’s timing remains uncertain. An Israeli security official quoted in the report stated that the IDF will employ “a very tight operational plan because it’s very complex there.” “There’s a humanitarian response that’s happening at the same time,” the official added. These reports coincide with the statement made by US State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller, who declared, “We don’t want to see Palestinians evacuated from Rafah unless it is to return to their homes.” The Biden administration has consistently voiced its opposition to a large-scale IDF invasion of Rafah, though this particular statement from the State Department appears novel. Miller asserted, “We don’t think there’s any effective way to evacuate 1.4 million Palestinians. There’s no way to conduct an operation in Rafah that would not lead to inordinate civilian harm and severely hamper the delivery of humanitarian assistance.” US officials have previously indicated that they might accept an IDF offensive in Rafah if Israel successfully evacuated the civilians and ensured their humanitarian needs were met. In his recent remarks, Miller dismissed the idea of US support for a major Rafah invasion. “We do want to see people able to leave Rafah to return to their homes — if they exist — and to their neighborhoods and to begin rebuilding their homes. We want to see the Palestinian people in Gaza start to restart their lives and rebuild their lives and ultimately bring this conflict to a close,” he said. Washington contends that a large-scale military offensive in Rafah would endanger the Palestinians seeking shelter there, devastate Gaza’s primary humanitarian hub in southern Gaza, and further isolate Israel internationally without substantially enhancing its security. Instead, the US is urging Israel to pursue more targeted operations against Hamas leaders in Rafah while collaborating with Cairo to secure the Egypt-Gaza border, establish an underground barrier to prevent weapons smuggling, and neutralize the remaining terror elements in the area, a US official told The Times of Israel. Israel contends that defeating Hamas requires a major offensive in Rafah to dismantle the terror group’s remaining battalions there. It maintains that the invasion will only commence after evacuating civilians from the city, guaranteeing their continued access to humanitarian aid upon relocation, and coordinating with Egypt, which borders Rafah and has expressed grave concerns regarding a potential operation. Last week, Israeli and US officials convened for a second virtual meeting to discuss the potential IDF operation in Rafah, which concluded with the administration remaining unconvinced by Israel’s plans for civilian evacuation and humanitarian assistance.
Satellite Photos Show New Tent Compound in Gaza Amid Fears of Israeli Offensive on Rafah
