'Last Refuge' Large-Scale Airstrike on Rafa... 100 Dead

Israel Conducts Airstrikes Despite US Biden's Opposition

Over 100 people were reported dead on the 12th (local time) due to a large-scale airstrike by the Israeli military on Rafah in the Gaza Strip, Palestine. The photo shows the local scene in Rafah on December 20 last year (local time). [Image source=Yonhap News]

Despite opposition from the United States and the international community, the Israeli military launched an airstrike on Rafah, the "last refuge" in the Gaza Strip, resulting in over 100 deaths. The Israeli side carried out a large-scale ground offensive just one day after U.S. President Joe Biden urged that military operations should not proceed until the evacuation and safety of residents were guaranteed.

Deployment of Fighter Jets and Tanks... Hamas Calls It a "War of Massacre"

According to AFP and other sources, the Gaza health authorities controlled by the Palestinian armed faction Hamas announced in a statement on the 12th (local time) that the death toll from the Israeli airstrike early that day had reached this number.

The number of injured from the airstrike was estimated to be around 230. It was reported that the strike involved coordinated use of land, sea, and air forces, including fighter jets, tanks, and warships.

The Rafah area is located at the southernmost part of the Gaza Strip, bordering Egypt, and is where a large number of refugees displaced from the northern region have gathered. It is known that about 1.4 million people, more than half of Gaza’s 2.3 million residents, are concentrated there. There have been concerns about large-scale casualties if the Israeli military fully enters the area.

Hamas issued a separate statement on the same day, criticizing the Rafah attack as a "war of mass massacre" and an attempt by Israel to forcibly displace Palestinian residents, according to foreign media reports.

U.S. Opposition Ineffective... Israel’s Neighboring Countries Also Warn

The international community, including the United States, has clearly opposed the Israeli military’s plan to conduct operations in Rafah, warning that large-scale civilian casualties are inevitable.

According to the U.S. White House, President Biden emphasized in a phone call with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on the 11th (local time) that military operations should not proceed until the evacuation or safety of over one million residents in Rafah is ensured.

President Biden also criticized Israel’s recent attacks after the war as "exceeding the limits" during a press conference on the 8th.

Israel’s neighboring countries have also warned that a ground attack on Rafah, a southern city in the Gaza Strip, could lead to a disaster.

Samih Shoukry, Egypt’s Foreign Minister, who shares a border with the Rafah area, criticized Israel’s ground attack on Rafah as having "catastrophic consequences" and claimed that Israel’s ultimate goal is to drive Palestinians out of their land.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.