Fears of pending assault on Rafah

By Nathan Morley

According to Kan TV, the evacuation will start soon, pending final approval by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. The UN has cautioned that any ground operation in Rafah would have shattering consequences for civilians.

Last month, Netanyahu approved plans to move into Rafah; however, a final execution order has not been issued. The city was, until recently, viewed as a safe zone from the Israeli bombings, and houses about 1.3 million displaced Palestinians.

The Israel war cabinet discussed a possible assault on Rafah on Thursday, with reports suggesting Israeli troops are ready for any eventual action.

Aid initiative

Elsewhere, the construction of a floating jetty off Gaza's shore is underway – it will be the delivery point for essential aid shipped to the enclave by sea.  

The Israeli military will provide security and logistics support for the initiative, which is expected to create an enhanced ship-to-shore distribution system to increase the flow of humanitarian aid into the territory.

The plan is for ships to deliver aid from Cyprus to the jetty where it will be offloaded onto lorries and distributed across Gaza.

On the aid front, the Jordanian military has performed six new airdrops of humanitarian aid to the northern Gaza Strip.

Earlier this week, Jordan also dispatched a new convoy of food aid to the people in Gaza in partnership with the World Food Program.

The convoy, made up of 115 trucks carrying food aid passed through the King Hussein Bridge to the Karam Abu Salem crossing.