Over A Million Flee Rafah As Netanyahu Calls Biden’s Hostage Deal ‘Incomplete’

After weeks of the intensifying Israeli army ground operation in Rafah, the United Nations has estimated that around one million Palestinians have fled the southern Gaza city.

The United Nations Palestinian Refugee Agency (UNRWA) issued this new astounding figure on Monday, describing that “a staggering one million people have now fled Rafah in southern Gaza” amid new reports of “overnight attacks in southern, central and northern locations by Israeli forces.”

“Conditions are unspeakable” the agency added, with most families having sought refuge in nearby Khan Younis and its largely damaged and destroyed facilities and buildings.

Rafah had a pre-war population of about 280,000 people, but throughout the conflict at least half or most of all the displaced persons in the Gaza Strip has been pushed into the city. The total prewar population of Gaza was 2.3 million people.

NPR graphic from March

The Israeli military has meanwhile ordered civilians to go to an “expanded humanitarian zone” which lies about 12 miles away; however, most eyewitnesses have told international media that there is nowhere for this many people to go.

One medical aid worker has told Al Jazeera that the situation with hospitals in the Gaza Strip is “beyond catastrophic” at this point: 

Dr Dorotea Gucciardo from Glia, a group that 3D prints open-source medical equipment for low-resource areas, has said the situation in hospitals across Gaza is “beyond catastrophic”.

“What we’ve been witnessing since October is a complete systematic destruction of hospitals by the Israeli military, starting in the north and working their way to the south,” she told Al Jazeera.

“There are few operating facilities. we have one semi-functioning hospital [in Deir el-Balah]. Patients are unable to access the healthcare that they need and doctors are unable to provide the resources that they require in order to provide health services,” Gucciardo added.

The situation looks intractable and will likely continue spiraling before it gets better. President Biden’s major peace plan effort he announced Friday continues getting pushback from the Netanyahu government. The prime minister complained to lawmakers there are still significant “gaps” in the plan.

“The claim that we agreed to a ceasefire without our conditions being met is incorrect,” Netanyahu told Knesset members Monday. “The proposal that Biden presented is incomplete.” According to Times of Israel:

Netanyahu said in a Knesset meeting that Israel will not end the war in Gaza until it achieves its three war aims, an Israeli official told The Times of Israel: destroying Hamas’s military and civil governance capabilities, securing the release of all hostages, and ensuring that Gaza no longer poses a threat to Israel.

He also reportedly said that there are “gaps” between the Israeli version and Biden’s recounting of it.

Netanyahu had also repeated that he’s committed to the original war aim of ensuring Hamas’ destruction, and that it can never return to govern again. But hardline Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir is still accusing Netanyahu of “whitewashing” the deal.

My prediction: Israel will reject what @JoeBiden described as an Israeli proposal. Israel negotiates with itself and then rejects its own offers to itself.

— Ali Abunimah (@AliAbunimah) May 31, 2024

Biden on Friday had described that an ‘Israeli deal’ is on the table, but this has triggered dissent, confusion, and anger with the Netanyahu governing coalition.

“This morning, I also went to the Prime Minister’s Office and there, once again, they refused to present the draft agreement to me,” said Ben-Gvir. “If you sign a reckless deal that will bring an end to the war without the collapse of Hamas, Otzma Yehudit [Ben-Gvir’s party] will dissolve the government,” he threatened.