The Israeli operation in Rafah fuels tensions with Washington. Here is the reality on the ground.
To help the groups working in Rafah, the debate over the Israeli military operation in southern Gaza resembles only one thing: semantics.
The Israeli military insists it launched only a “limited” operation on the outskirts of a densely populated city – not a full-scale invasion that the Biden administration said would be a “line red” which could fray relations between the two allies.
But the city of 1.4 million, filled with war refugees from northern Gaza, is already a slow-moving disaster, said Scott Anderson, deputy director of UNRWA, the main U.N. agency in Gaza. , and one of its few employees still in Rafah.
Anderson told POLITICO that Israeli troops’ incursion into the southeastern part of the city is already causing chaos and preventing aid from reaching people who desperately need it. UNRWA’s fuel stocks are depleted and its food rations will run out on Friday, he warned in a Zoom interview on Monday.
The Biden administration has said a major invasion would constitute a red line – noting that it could lead to more civilian deaths. But aid groups note they are already struggling to distribute much-needed aid to the more than 1.4 million people living there. And the current fighting has left dozens dead in the last 24 hours.
Anderson argues that, however, Israel has chosen to portray its current operations in Rafah as unimportant compared to the reality on the ground. His interview highlights what is at stake for Gazans in the coming days and weeks if Israel follows through on its promise to carry out a large-scale ground invasion of Rafah.
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
Can you explain exactly what has happened in Rafah since the Israel Defense Forces began operations?
The Rafah crossing closed around 2 p.m. on Sunday due to Hamas mortar fire on the crossing. The next morning, the IDF called to say that evacuation orders would be issued for eastern Rafah, approximately 100,000 people. There were fights throughout the day. Then we thought there would be a ceasefire. This obviously did not turn out to be true.
What is the situation in the city today?
What we are seeing today is an increase in the number of people displaced from Rafah, not only in areas that have received evacuation orders, but also in Rafah itself. The roads are quite clogged. UNRWA had seven shelters inside the evacuation zone, all emptied. Each had between 5,000 and 7,000 people. We saw a greater presence of the IDF on the ground. Strikes took place today further west, in the town of Rafah proper, well outside the evacuation zone.
Who was evacuated from Rafah?
Outside my window there is a large tent area, with makeshift plastic structures. Yesterday I saw a whole group of people packing up their things and leaving, and today I saw a bunch of other people coming in and setting up their tents. I think they’re moving from Rafa East to Rafa West, and I think they’re just trying to stay ahead of what they see as the operation.
People who have been displaced several times take all their belongings with them.
Where are the Gazans from Rafah going? It seems like nowhere is safe.
Some try to get to Al-Mawasi (a small strip of land on the water’s edge in the southwest of Gaza). It’s a rotten place. It’s like trying to build a city on a beach. There is no infrastructure, there is no sewer, there is no water. None of this exists, and there are already 450,000 people in this general area. There is a lot of people.
The passages have been closed for several days now. What impact has this had on aid distribution?
First and foremost: fuel shipments. Everything we do starts with fuel. It runs generators for the hospital for wastewater, pumping for water production and distribution, solid waste management, food aid, cross-border operations – everything. Right now we are out of fuel. We’re practically out. We kept enough to meet the minimum security standards we must meet for the UN in order to continue to stay here. But we are at this level. Some hospitals will start shutting down their generators in three days if we can’t get fuel.
In terms of food, we will start to run out of some things on Friday.
I don’t think there are pockets of hunger in the South, but there are certainly pockets of hunger. And even if there is no famine, famine-like conditions could occur. For 300,000 people, it will probably take a minimum of 30 trips per day to meet the needs of the population. In April, that would make 900 trucks. We arrived in 185.
Have Israeli officials informed you of their intention to reopen the crossings?
We got a call from Israel last night, and they said they wanted to reopen the (Kerem Shalom) terminal. I said, “That’s great, but first we need to do an assessment, bringing in unexploded ordnance experts, as well as security and logistics officials, to look at the state of affairs and determine whether or not this encourages us to resume the operation. » The transshipment zone is completely looted and destroyed. There’s practically nothing left. And on top of that, there is currently a tank battalion stationed in this area. So we can make it work, but we’ll have to coordinate through, essentially, an active operation.
At the Rafah crossing, there is no one. The passenger terminal there and in the South appears to be in perfect condition, but there is no one there. Because it was a de facto authority that ruled it, and they were all displaced.
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How long do you think it will take to open the Rafah border at this point?
Thirty-six hours.
What about the fighting on the ground in Rafah? Is this still going on?
Just an hour ago, I was hearing things. I haven’t done it in about an hour, but it was pretty active today. The other part of this is that wherever there is a concentration of IDF, that becomes a target. So every crossing today was hit by something. There is now a stronger IDF presence. There are two brigades, one specializes in tunnels and the other is the perpetrator (World Central Kitchen). These are the two brigades currently operating in the south of Rafa.
Two dozen people have been killed in the past 24 hours, including seven children.
What is the general atmosphere in the city where you are currently?
Disheartened is the best word. They moved from the idea of a ceasefire to what could be the start of something in Rafah. So people are scared, anxious, discouraged, depressed. Choose your negative adjective.
We will stay and deliver. We’re not going anywhere. We are not evacuating, we are not moving. We are not leaving. We will be there. As long as there is a need.
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