Israel proposes evacuation plan from Rafah to Egypt

Israel is proposing the creation of sprawling tent cities in Gaza as part of an evacuation plan to be funded by the US and its Arab Gulf partners ahead of an impending invasion of a city in the strip’s south which Israel says is the last bastion of Hamas.

The proposal, which was presented to Egypt in recent days, came as the Biden administration is warning Israel against going into Rafah without a strategy to protect civilians, The Wall Street Journal reports.

A military operation in Rafah shouldn’t proceed without “a credible plan for ensuring the safety and support of more than one million people sheltering,” President Biden said on February 12.

Israeli officials have pushed back on the US warnings, saying they must carry out a ground offensive in Rafah to eradicate Hamas. Early on February 12 local time, Israel conducted a rescue operation that freed two hostages in Rafah, where Israel says many of the remaining hostages captured during an October 7 Hamas-led attack are being held.

The Israeli evacuation proposal includes establishing 15 campsites of around 25,000 tents each across the southwestern part of the Gaza Strip, Egyptian officials said. Egypt would be in charge of setting up the camps and field hospitals, the officials said.

The plan indicates that Israel is planning an invasion of Rafah, despite US and Egyptian concerns. Cairo has said that it would suspend a 1979 peace treaty with Israel if Palestinians crossed the border from Rafah to flee an Israeli offensive, The Wall Street Journal has reported.

The office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu declined to comment on the proposal. The Egyptian government couldn’t immediately be reached for comment.