A new war crime.
Democracy Now: Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu says he has ordered the Israeli military to plan an evacuation of Rafah ahead of an expected ground invasion into the southern Gaza town, where about 1.5 million Palestinians are now crammed in close quarters to escape the fighting elsewhere in the territory. Israel says Rafah, which borders Egypt, is the last stronghold for Hamas.
Since October 7, Israel has issued successive evacuation orders pushing Palestinians further and further south to supposedly “safe” zones, even as it continued to bomb those areas. More than half of the population of Gaza is now packed into Rafah, and it’s unclear where Israel expects them to go from there.
The announcement from the prime minister’s office on Friday comes a day after U.S. President Biden, in some of his strongest language yet, said Israel’s conduct in Gaza has been “over the top” and caused too much civilian suffering.
