As contacts continue aimed at clinching a Gaza ceasefire and hostage release deal, the future of Israel’s planned “humanitarian city” in Rafah hangs in the balance.
The plan, outlined by defence minister Israel Katz, envisages the forced transfer of Gaza’s population to a tent city to be built on the ruins of the southern city of Rafah, now largely destroyed, beginning with the approximately 600,000 war refugees from the adjacent Muwasi humanitarian zone.
Israel hopes international aid agencies will provide food, water and medical supplies to the area while the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) will secure the approach routes.
The residents will be screened on entry and will not be allowed to leave. Israel argues that the plan will separate innocent civilians from Hamas fighters in other areas, who will no longer be able to surround themselves with civilian human shields.
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At a tense security cabinet meeting on Sunday night, prime minister Binyamin Netanyahu and several other ministers criticised the IDF plan to establish the humanitarian city after military planners warned that it could take up to a year to build and cost €3.5 billion.
Mr Netanyahu told IDF chief of staff Ltn Gen Eyal Zamir: “I asked for a realistic plan,” telling him to draw up an alternative plan that would be faster and cheaper.
Israeli experts in international law and the laws of war have warned that the humanitarian city constitutes a war crime and a crime against humanity, claiming that under certain conditions, it could also be considered genocide.
Unrwa, the United Nations agency for Palestinian refugees, says the plan would create “de facto massive concentration camps at the border with Egypt”.
Hamas negotiators have rejected the idea as part of an Israeli plan to continue the war after an initial 60-day ceasefire, leading to a forced transfer of Gaza residents to Egypt or other countries.
IDF officials have warned that Hamas opposition to the plan could topple a ceasefire deal and endanger the lives of the 20 hostages still believed to be alive.
The Palestinian foreign ministry also rejected the plan, saying: “The humanitarian city has nothing to do with humanity.”
Israel’s opposition leader Yair Lapid termed the plan an expensive fantasy of Mr Netanyahu’s far-right coalition partners, who favour the re-establishment of Israeli settlements in Gaza. Former prime minister Ehud Olmert described the humanitarian city as a “concentration camp”.
The Israeli military launched a campaign to destroy Hamas in response to an unprecedented cross-border attack on October 7th, 2023, in which about 1,200 people were killed and 251 were taken hostage. More than 58,000 people have been killed in Gaza since then, according to the territory’s Hamas-run health ministry.
