There may now be more Hamas militants in the north of Gaza - supposedly cleared by Israel's forces many months ago - than in Rafah, the southern city described by Israeli officials as the Islamist organisation's "last stronghold", analysts believe.
More than a million people have fled Rafah, Gaza's southernmost city, after instructions from the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), the biggest wave of displacement since the early months of the conflict. The IDF has said repeatedly that four Hamas brigades - the militant group's biggest remaining force are based in Rafah.
But though Israeli forces have now invaded Rafah, it was fighting in Jabaliya, the second most populous town in northern Gaza, that was described last month by IDF officials as "perhaps the fiercest" yet seen in the conflict.
Eyal Hulata, the head of Israel's national security council from 2021 to last year, told reporters last month: "We do have to remember there are more Hamas-armed people in the north of Gaza in the places that the IDF has already moved out of than... in Rafah." He added: "Those are the IDF's numbers. This is why the IDF had to go back into Jabaliya and... Zeitoun [a nearby town]. Hamas is controlling all those areas."
Israeli officials, including the prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, have long claimed that the offensive in Rafah will achieve their stated war aims of destroying Hamas's capability to threaten Israel and freeing hostages held by the group.
Esta historia es de la edición June 07, 2024 de The Guardian Weekly.
Comience su prueba gratuita de Magzter GOLD de 7 días para acceder a miles de historias premium seleccionadas y a más de 9,000 revistas y periódicos.
Ya eres suscriptor ? Conectar
Esta historia es de la edición June 07, 2024 de The Guardian Weekly.
Comience su prueba gratuita de Magzter GOLD de 7 días para acceder a miles de historias premium seleccionadas y a más de 9,000 revistas y periódicos.
Ya eres suscriptor? Conectar
Friendship interrupted
They were best mates. Then one had a baby, while the other struggled to conceive. They share their brutally honest takes on what happens when motherhood affects friendship
KERNELS OF HOPE
During the siege of Leningrad, botanists in charge of an irreplaceable seed collection, the first of its kind, had to protect it from fire, rodents-and hunger
A new horizon' The inverse link between cancer and dementia
Scientists have long been aware of a curious connection between these common and feared diseases. At last, a clearer picture is emerging
Across the universe
Samantha Harvey won the Booker prize with a novel set in space. Yet, she says, Orbital is actually 'a celebration of Earth's beauty with a pang of loss'
Frank Auerbach 1931 -2024
Saved from the Holocaust, this artist captured the devastation of postwar Britain as ifits wounds were his own but he ultimately found salvation in painting
Seven lessons I've learned after 28 years as economics editor
Margaret Thatcher was Britain's prime minister and Neil Kinnock was leader of the Labour party.
Droughtstricken dam leaves economies powerless
A ll is not well with the waters of Lake Kariba, the world's human-made lake largest A punishing drought has drained the huge reservoir close to record lows, raising the prospect that the Kariba Dam, which powers the economies of Zambia and Zimbabwe, may have to shut down for the first time in its 65-year history.
Let this be the end of these excruciating celebrity endorsements
I wish celebrities would learn the art of the French exit. But they can't, which is why Eva Longoria has announced she no longer lives in America. \"I get to escape and go somewhere,\" she explained.
Alive, but unable to thrive under absolute patriarchy
Since the Taliban returned to power, women and girls have tried defiance, but despair at their harshly restricted lives
‘It's tragic’ Reflection in the wake of Amsterdam violence
Carrying signs scrawled with messages urging unity, they laid white roses at the statue of Anne Frank, steps away from the home where her family had hidden from Nazi persecution.
