Gaza mediators warn against Rafah ground invasion after 44 killed in Israeli air strikes

In short: Gazan officials say at least 44 Palestinians have been killed in Israeli air strikes on Rafah, including more than a dozen children.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Saturday ordered plans for the evacuation of hundreds of thousands of people ahead of an invasion.

What’s next? Neighbouring countries are warning of repercussions if a ground invasion is launched in Rafah.

Israel’s neighbours and key mediators are warning of disaster and repercussions if its military launches a ground invasion in Gaza’s southern city of Rafah, where Israel says remaining Hamas strongholds are located — along with over half the besieged territory’s population.

Gazan officials said Israeli air strikes killed at least 44 Palestinians — including more than a dozen children — in Rafah, hours after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he had ordered the military to plan for the evacuation of hundreds of thousands of people ahead of an invasion. He gave no details or timeline.

A man rummages through building debris.

Approximately 80 per cent of the 2.3 million people in Gaza have been displaced.(AP: Fatima Shbair)

The announcement set off panic. More than half of Gaza’s 2.3 million people are packed into Rafah, which borders Egypt. Many fled there after Israeli evacuation orders that now cover two-thirds of the territory following the October 7 Hamas attack that sparked the war. It is not clear where they could go next.

Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry said any Israeli ground offensive on Rafah would have “disastrous consequences,” and asserted that Israel aimed to eventually force the Palestinians out of their land. Egypt has warned that any movement of Palestinians into Egypt would threaten the four-decade-old peace treaty between Israel and Egypt.

Another mediator, Qatar, also warned of disaster, and Saudi Arabia warned of “very serious repercussions.” There’s even increasing friction between Mr Netanyahu and the United States, whose officials have said a Rafah invasion with no plan for civilians there would lead to disaster.

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A young girl posing in a denim jacket and novelty sunglasses.

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“The people in Gaza cannot disappear into thin air,” German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock said on X, adding that an Israeli offensive on Rafah would be a “humanitarian catastrophe in the making.”

Israel has carried out almost daily air strikes in Rafah, a rare entry point for Gaza’s badly needed food and medical supplies, during its current ground combat in Khan Younis, just to the north.

On Saturday night (local time), three air strikes on homes in the Rafah area killed 28 people, including a total of 10 children, the youngest 3 months old, according to a health official and Associated Press journalists who saw bodies arriving at hospitals.

Later on Saturday, an Israeli air strike on a home in Rafah killed at least 11 people, including three children, according to Ahmed al-Soufi, head of Rafah municipality.

Two other strikes in Rafah killed two policemen and three senior officers in the civil police, according to city officials.

Civilians caught up in Rafah crossfire

Israel holds Hamas responsible for civilian deaths because it fights from within civilian areas, but US officials have called for more surgical strikes. President Joe Biden has said Israel’s response is “over the top”.

Mr Netanyahu’s office has said it is impossible to eliminate Hamas while leaving four battalions in Rafah.

The United Nations says the city, which is normally home to less than 300,000 people, now hosts 1.4 million others who fled fighting elsewhere and is “severely overcrowded.” Roughly 80 per cent of Gaza’s people have been displaced since the war began in October, according to UN figures.