Israel bombards Gaza’s Rafah as ground offensive looms
Al Jazeera
About 1.4 million Palestinians, displaced several times, have sought shelter in the city that borders Egypt.
The Israeli military has launched air raids on Rafah in southern Gaza after warning of an imminent ground offensive in the border city where an estimated 1.4 million Palestinians have sought shelter since fleeing attacks across the enclave.
More than four months of relentless attacks by land, air and sea have flattened much of the Gaza Strip, pushing its population of 2.3 million to the brink of famine, according to the United Nations.
International concern has in recent weeks centred on Rafah, where a ground invasion could displace hundreds of thousands of Palestinians across the frontier with Egypt.
The last city untouched by Israeli ground troops, Rafah also serves as the main entry point of humanitarian aid via neighbouring Egypt for desperately needed relief supplies.
Israel has warned it will expand its ground operations into Rafah if Palestinian armed group Hamas does not free the remaining captives held in Gaza by the start of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan in March.
