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Egypt’s President al-Sisi expects a Rafah offensive to have “catastrophic consequences” for the region. A Greek frigate shot down a Houthi drone in the Gulf of Aden. All developments in the live blog.
Ahead of a possible Israeli offensive in Rafah near the border with Egypt, its President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi has once again opposed the expulsion of Palestinians into his country. Egypt firmly rejects a “forced displacement” of Palestinians to the Sinai, Al-Sisi said in a televised speech.
Egypt made this position clear “from the first minute” of the war in neighboring Gaza. A military offensive in Rafah would have “catastrophic consequences” for the region, the presidential office said.
At least five people were killed in Israeli air strikes on Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip, hospital officials said. The victims of the attacks included a six-year-old and an eight-year-old child. This was reported by the AP news agency.
Four more people were killed by Israeli tank fire in the center of the Gaza Strip and their bodies were taken to a local hospital. Family members told the AP that their loved ones were killed while trying to cross into northern Gaza. The Israeli military is trying to prevent people from returning to their homes.
According to Palestinian information, 43 dead people were taken to hospitals in the Gaza Strip within 24 hours. In addition, 64 injured people were admitted to the coastal area, said the Ministry of Health, which is controlled by the militant Islamist Hamas. The total number of Palestinian deaths in the war has risen to at least 34,305. The information cannot be independently verified.
Conflict parties as a source
In the current situation, information on the course of the war, shelling and casualties provided by the Palestinian and Israeli conflict parties cannot be directly verified by an independent body.
Israel’s upcoming military operation against the militant Islamist Hamas in Rafah in the south of the Gaza Strip is likely to begin with an evacuation of the civilian population lasting several weeks. It is expected that it could take between four and five weeks to move the population to safer locations, Israeli radio reported. This is the first phase of the ground operation in the city on the border with Egypt.
Israel’s allies have been warning for months against such an operation in Rafah because hundreds of thousands of Palestinian internally displaced people are crowding there. However, Israel believes the operation is essential to ensure the destruction of Hamas’ fighting capabilities. Hostages who were kidnapped into the Gaza Strip in the major Hamas attack on October 7th are also believed to be in the city.
A Greek Navy frigate fired at two drones that approached the ship in the Gulf of Aden – one was shot down. The second unmanned aerial vehicle then turned away, as reported by Greek Radio (ERT), citing the Ministry of Defense. The frigate is continuing its mission, it said.
The frigate “Hydra” accompanied a merchant ship as part of the EU naval operation “Aspides”. “Aspides” is intended to protect merchant ships from attacks by the militant Islamist Houthis from Yemen. The operation’s command center is located in the central Greek city of Larisa.
According to the US, a coalition ship intercepted an anti-ship missile (ASBM) from the Iran-backed Houthi areas in Yemen in the Gulf of Aden. “The ASBM likely targeted the MV Yorktown, a U.S.-flagged and operated vessel with 18 American and four Greek crew members,” the U.S. Regional Command said. “No injuries or damage to U.S. ships, coalition ships or merchant vessels were reported.” The Houthi rebels had previously announced attacks on the container ship “Maersk Yorktown” and a US destroyer.
The UN humanitarian coordinator in the Gaza Strip, Sigrid Kaag, has warned of a possible Israeli attack on the town of Rafah in the south of the sealed-off coastal strip. “Such an action would worsen an ongoing humanitarian catastrophe, with consequences for people who are already displaced and enduring great hardship and suffering,” the Dutchwoman told the UN Security Council in New York. “The United Nations’ ability to deliver aid would be restricted.”
The radical Islamist Palestinian organization Hamas has published a video of a hostage kidnapped from Israel to the Gaza Strip. “I wanted to hang out with my friends and instead found myself fighting for my life with serious injuries all over my body,” the man, who according to Hamas has Israeli and US citizenship, said in the video on Hamas’ official channel on the Telegram online service. In it he can be seen sitting on a plastic chair in front of a white wall.
The man says he was seriously injured on October 7, the day of Hamas’s unprecedented major attack on Israel. He accuses Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his government of abandoning thousands of Israelis on October 7th and also the hostages since then. The hostages are underground and lack water, food and medical care.
Bettina Meier, ARD Tel Aviv, tagesschau, April 25, 2024 5:24 a.m
According to a media report, Israel wants to carry out its announced ground offensive on the city of Rafah in the south of the sealed-off Gaza Strip gradually. As the Wall Street Journal reported, citing Egyptian officials and former Israeli officers, Israel changed its initial plans for a full-scale attack on the city on the border with Egypt, currently crowded with hundreds of thousands of internally displaced people, under pressure from the United States and other countries.
It was said that a more gradual approach should limit the number of civilian casualties. Israel’s military does not comment on its operational plans. However, a few days ago, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced “further painful blows” against the radical Islamist Hamas. “And this will happen shortly.”
Israel has expressed disappointment over the German government’s announcement that it will work again with the UN Palestinian Relief Agency. US President Biden calls on Israel to quickly distribute aid in Gaza. All developments from Wednesday to read.