Israel procures 40,000 tents for evacuation of population from Rafah

(Patria) - The Israeli Defense Ministry is procuring 40,000 tents as preparation for the evacuation of the population from Rafah, a city in the southern Gaza Strip that Israel plans to attack "to destroy the remaining Hamas battalions," Israeli media reported yesterday.

The ministry has not yet officially confirmed the plan, but information has leaked, writes the Jerusalem Post, one of many media outlets that reported on it.

The news of the planned purchase of tents, which can accommodate 12 people each, is one of the first concrete signs of preparations for the evacuation of Rafah, where more than a million Palestinians have taken shelter.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has repeatedly stated that an invasion of Rafah, the last remaining city in Gaza not yet subjected to a major ground attack, is planned.

The military says four battalions remain in Rafah, as well as an unknown number of senior Hamas commanders. Israeli authorities previously estimated that each Hamas battalion has about 1,000 fighters.

Before the attack, the civilian population will be evacuated to so-called "humanitarian islands" in central Gaza, where food, water, and medical services will be available, the military announced.

Plans for the attack on Rafah have drawn condemnation from the international community, and even Israel's closest ally, the United States, has warned Netanyahu that the country will face global isolation if it persists with the plan.

Israel's military operation in Gaza, launched after a devastating Hamas attack on Israel in which more than 1,200 people were killed and over 250 taken hostage in October last year, has left the enclave in ruins and displaced most of the population.

More than 33,000 people, most of them civilians, have been killed in ground and air attacks, according to health authorities in Gaza, and calls for a ceasefire are growing worldwide.

Israeli authorities say they have eliminated about 10,000 Hamas fighters and largely destroyed the movement's organized combat formations, but they claim they must take Rafah to achieve the goal of destroying the group's military and governing structures and returning the hostages.