0:00

On Monday, leaflets fell from the

0:02

sky in southern Gaza. They were

0:04

dropped by Israeli forces, and they

0:06

told residents in parts of Rafah

0:09

that they should evacuate, some 100,000

0:11

people. They

0:14

were directed to a quote, expanded

0:16

humanitarian area north and northwest of

0:18

the city. To many

0:21

people in Rafah, that concept

0:23

is meaningless. There are no

0:25

safe spaces in Gaza. Abdullah Habhamad

0:27

works for a community development organization

0:29

in Gaza. He spoke to us

0:31

this week from Rafah. The concept

0:34

of safe designated area has become elusive

0:36

for the people of Gaza. It is

0:38

illusion because it has just been shattered.

0:40

We speak about 1.3 million

0:42

Palestinians living in a place smaller than

0:45

Hitler Airport. It is the last remaining

0:47

sanctuary in Gaza, the last refuge. And

0:49

by the way, there is no refuge.

0:52

Saturday night, tanks rolled into Rafah,

0:54

taking control of the Palestinian side

0:56

of the border crossing with Egypt.

0:58

Israeli airstrikes had already been pounding

1:01

the city for weeks, killing

1:03

100 since late March, most of

1:05

them women and children, according to

1:08

hospital records. There are at least

1:10

1.3 million Palestinians

1:12

living in Rafah, more

1:14

than half fled fighting in other

1:17

parts of Gaza, including Hamad. I'm

1:19

from the northern part of Gaza. I live in the

1:21

north and I have been displaced

1:23

six times now. This

1:25

is going to be my seventh if I

1:28

evacuated Rafah. He now lives in a

1:30

refugee camp in Rafah. He says what's

1:32

happening there is somehow more than

1:35

a humanitarian crisis. There's not enough

1:37

food and close to no clean

1:39

water. 90% of Gaza's

1:41

health system has collapsed.

1:43

Diseases are on the

1:45

rise, particularly malaria. Like

1:48

that, Rafah, now we have more

1:50

than 600,000 children's in tents. It's

1:53

a city of tents. It's a

1:55

city of children. Hamad said that

1:57

people are ravenous for life, even

1:59

just normal life. And

2:02

for a brief moment earlier this week,

2:04

people in Rafa were actually

2:06

celebrating. Hamas announced

2:08

it had agreed to terms of a

2:10

ceasefire proposed by Egypt in Qatar. The

2:12

moment I heard the kind of preaching

2:14

at deal, I was super happy. I

2:17

kind of celebrated. I

2:19

personally have bought sweets like desserts.

2:22

But then in one night

2:24

shift, it was hilarious, ridiculous.

2:28

Israel's government did not accept the

2:30

ceasefire proposal, but sent a diplomatic

2:33

delegation to Egypt to continue

2:35

negotiations. Consider

2:38

this. Israel says its

2:40

incursion in Rafa is a precise

2:43

counter-terrorism operation. But

2:45

possible further military action along

2:48

with the closed border crossing

2:50

could exacerbate a humanitarian catastrophe.

2:57

From NPR, I'm Wanda Summers. It's

3:02

Consider This from NPR. One

3:04

of the questions hanging over Israel's operation in

3:07

Rafa is this. Where

3:09

is President Biden's red line? There's

3:12

the line that his national security spokesman

3:14

John Kirby used again. We don't

3:17

want to see major ground operations in Rafa that put these people

3:19

at greater risk. And again? We've

3:21

been very clear that we

3:23

don't support a major ground operation in Rafa. Operation

3:26

in general. And again? I'll just go

3:28

back to what I said. I don't

3:30

know, half a dozen, if not more times today.

3:32

We don't support operations in Rafa that put people

3:34

at greater risk. That was all at

3:36

a press briefing on Monday before Israel's incursion

3:38

in Rafa. After its forces

3:40

took over the border crossing, Kirby

3:42

said it did not constitute a

3:45

major ground invasion. The Israelis

3:47

have said this operation they conducted

3:49

last night was of limited duration

3:51

and size and scale and scope,

3:53

limited purpose. What I've

3:55

said is, we've

3:57

heard that and we're

3:59

watching. There was

4:01

one notable development in Biden's relationship

4:03

with Israel. NPR has confirmed reporting

4:06

in Axios that the White House

4:08

paused an arms shipment to Israel.

4:11

A senior administration official speaking on

4:13

condition of anonymity told NPR it

4:15

was due to concerns that the

4:17

bombs could be used in Raffa.

4:23

Whether or not Israel's operation in

4:25

Raffa currently constitutes a major ground

4:27

offensive, the evacuation is

4:29

worsening a desperate situation for people

4:32

living there. NPR international

4:34

correspondent Eya Batrawi has been following

4:36

the story, and she joins me

4:38

now from Dubai. Hi.

4:40

Hey. So, Eya, we know

4:43

that Raffa is where more than half

4:45

of Gaza's population has been sheltering and

4:47

that it's where Israel launched a ground

4:49

operation on Monday. The military

4:52

says that at this stage, troops

4:54

are not advancing towards the main city

4:56

and that they're focused on the eastern

4:58

part of Raffa. But with Israeli tanks

5:00

now in parts of Raffa, what has

5:02

the impact been there? Well,

5:05

Raffa has a really small area bordering Egypt,

5:07

but it's become home to more than 1.4

5:11

million displaced people, half of whom

5:13

are children. So this

5:15

military offensive has jolted and terrified

5:17

people there. They're really concerned that

5:19

this operation is just beginning and

5:21

will expand. Have a listen

5:24

to Israeli government spokesman Abi Hyman explaining

5:26

Israel's military goals in Raffa. This

5:28

is the beginning of our mission

5:30

to take out the last four

5:32

Hamas brigades in Raffa. You

5:34

should be in no doubt about that

5:36

whatsoever. Eya, you spoke today

5:39

with aid workers in Raffa. Let's have

5:41

a listening to your reporting with NPR

5:43

producer Anas Baba in Gaza about what's

5:45

happening on the ground there. And

5:48

I'll warn listeners here that this report

5:50

includes the sound of gunfire, as well

5:52

as graphic scenes of violence. Since

5:56

the October 7th attack on Israel, people in Gaza

5:58

have had to pick up and move again

6:00

and again and again. I'm

6:03

in the south. I'm a dad.

6:06

I'll just sit there. On the beach road

6:08

to the school, tell Shefah hospital, tell

6:11

Shawwah to Rafah. Fatmah

6:13

Bala rattles off the places she's been

6:15

forced to flee. We've

6:17

seen nothing but suffering, says the elderly

6:19

woman who walks with a cane. On

6:23

Monday, she was among the more than 100,000 people in

6:26

Eastern Rafah Israel told to leave. Children

6:29

piled onto donkey carts and in

6:31

cars stacked high with mattresses. But

6:33

most people had to walk through streets

6:35

overflowing with sewage and garbage as they

6:38

dragged luggage and pushed the wounded in

6:40

wheelchairs. Israel sent messages

6:42

like this to get people moving. We

6:45

don't know. We don't

6:47

know. We don't know. We

6:49

don't know. We don't know. We don't

6:51

know. Israel also published

6:53

a grid-like map with the numbered

6:55

blocks of where people should leave

6:57

on social media and in flyers

6:59

dropped from the sky. Where do you end

7:02

up, Gaza, God, it's God. For

7:05

your safety, the Israeli military orders

7:08

you to evacuate immediately to the

7:10

expanded humanitarian area in El Mo'assie,

7:12

the message says. But

7:14

it warns people not to head back too

7:16

far north where Israeli forces have shot people

7:18

trying to reach Gaza City. Less

7:21

than 24 hours later, Israeli tanks

7:23

rolled into Rafah. In

7:27

one viral video, a tank is seen

7:29

rolling over an I Love Gaza sign

7:31

near the Rafah crossing with Egypt. The

7:34

military says troops killed Hamas gunmen in

7:36

that area and found tunnel shafts. The

7:39

operation, however, also shut down the

7:41

Rafah border, the main artery for

7:44

fuel and aid and anyone entering

7:46

or leaving Gaza. Jens

7:48

Larké, spokesman for the UN

7:50

humanitarian office. If no fuel

7:52

comes in for a prolonged period of time,

7:55

it would be a very effective

7:57

way of putting the humanitarian operation.

8:00

and it's great. Hisham Mahane is in Rafah

8:02

with the International Committee of the Red Cross. He

8:05

says severely wounded and chronically ill people

8:07

are trapped, and the health system has

8:09

collapsed. HISHAM MAHANE This is why

8:11

a significant military operation in Rafah

8:13

can be disastrous and will lead

8:16

to absolute carnage. The

8:19

U.N. estimates that tens of thousands fled

8:21

the city on Tuesday. Some

8:24

headed to the scorching, sandy area of

8:26

Al Moesi, others to central Gaza.

8:29

Both areas have been bombed. Dr.

8:31

James Smith, an emergency doctor in Rafah,

8:33

says not everyone can leave the city,

8:36

particularly those who are ill or wounded.

8:39

But people who stay will struggle to find

8:41

treatment. DR. JAMES SMITH

8:43

The European Gaza hospital, which is to the

8:45

northeast of Rafah, is completely overwhelmed already. Several

8:48

of the smaller hospitals in Rafah

8:50

have already started to preemptively evacuate

8:53

patients because they're fearful of what

8:55

the Israeli military might do in

8:58

or around those health facilities. HISHAM

9:00

MAHANE Rafah's main hospital was closed.

9:02

It's in the red zone where people were told to leave.

9:05

Doctors Without Borders emergency coordinator

9:08

in Gaza Silvan Ghulou says

9:10

another hospital in Rafah is

9:12

already moving its incubators and

9:14

equipment to Nazir Hospital in

9:16

nearby Hanunis, which they're trying

9:18

to salvage after an Israeli raid destroyed it.

9:21

As for Hanunis? DR. JAMES

9:23

SMITH The city has been completely destroyed. It

9:25

looks like World War II, and I've never

9:28

seen this level of damage, even a place

9:30

like Mosul or Aleppo. HISHAM MAHANE Although the

9:32

city is more devastated than any he's

9:35

seen in Iraq and Syria, he says. DR.

9:37

JAMES SMITH This offensive is moving very, very quickly. Time

9:40

is not on our side. HISHAM MAHANE Just as

9:42

people were leaving Rafah this week, Israeli

9:45

airstrikes killed at least 13 members of

9:47

the El Derbe family sheltering in a

9:49

home in an area not under evacuation

9:51

orders. The

9:54

body bags are baking in the heat under the

9:56

sun. Rafah's key morgue

9:58

isn't accessible. It's part of the

10:00

main hospital in the Red Zone. Amal

10:03

al-Durbi, a matriarch in the family, names off

10:05

the men, women, and children lying in those

10:07

body bags or still under the rubble. They

10:18

were innocent kids, just kids, she

10:20

says. At the sight of

10:22

the airstrike, rescue workers comb through

10:25

the rubble using only

10:27

shovels. Civil

10:38

defense worker Muhammad al-Hons is helping, but

10:40

he says, should I console

10:42

myself or others? He

10:44

says only yesterday, his uncle,

10:47

his uncle's wife, and their three

10:49

children were killed in an Israeli

10:51

airstrike. But he adds, there's

10:53

no time to grieve. That

10:56

was NPR's Aya Batrawi with reporting

10:58

from Anas Baba in Rafa.

11:02

This episode was produced by Jordan Marie

11:05

Smith, Lena Mohammed, and Connor Donovan. It

11:07

was edited by Courtney Dorning and

11:09

James Heider. Our executive producer is

11:11

Sami Yennigan. And

11:14

one more thing before we go. Consider

11:16

this is now also a newsletter.

11:19

Just like on this podcast, we help you

11:21

break down a major story of the day,

11:23

but you'll also get to know our producers

11:25

and hosts. And we'll share

11:27

moments of joy from the All Things Considered

11:29

team. You can sign up at npr.org/Consider

11:32

This newsletter.

11:40

It's Consider This from NPR. I'm

11:43

Wanda Summers.