UK tells Israel to 'stop and think' about offensive in Rafah after deadly strikes - BBC News

hello I'm Kylie pentelow welcome to BBC News Now 3 hours of fast moving News interviews and reaction first the Israeli military has rescued two of the hostages abducted by Hamas during a raid in the Gaza Strip the release of the hostages was announced shortly after Israel carried out an intense aerial bombardment of the southern city of Rafa well this was the scene after those Israeli strikes this morning the spokesman for the Hamas run Health minister says at least 67 Palestinians were killed a doctor at a nearby hospital said it was unable to cope with the number of injured helicopters and Boats were also involved in the attack the two Israeli hostages Fernando Maron and Louis har seen here reunited with their families are said to be in a good condition it's thought to be only the second time Israel has carried out a successful military operation to rescue hostages the Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said only continued military pressure will free more hostages Israel's offensive in Rafa looks set to continue our International editor Jeremy Bowen examines whether this is to become the next Battle Zone in Gaza where will they take us what will they do with us Rafa is the most southerly town in Gaza and it's the place where most of the population of Gaza has been fleeing to as the Israelis have advanced from the north you can see the influx of people from these satellite pictures now you can see the difference all those little markings are tense there are about 1.4 million people estimated to be in Rafa that's five times its usual population they thought they might be safer there but now Israel says they're going to attack we have instructed the Army to prepare the operation in Rafa the Israelis say moving in on Rafa is a military necessity in pursuit of what the Prime Minister calls total Victory against Damas they want to get into those tunnels we're going to get them one M after another one tunnel after another and as well as that they want to get more than a 100 Israeli hostages back so many people have ended up in Rafa because they've been pushed down from the north and there's nowhere else for them to go they've reached the Border they're living in terrible conditions there exhausted after 4 months of War we hear that the Israelis are a military operation in the South where will they take us the Israelis say that they can open a safe passage for civilians in Rafa but the man who heads the UN agency that looks after Palestinian refugees doesn't believe them we haven't seen any safe even since the beginning of the war but there is nothing safe in Gaza the problem with Israel's argument is a safe passage to where north of them there's the devastation of War and the Israeli Army south of them there's the closed Egyptian border well let's speak to uh Jeremy now so we have two Israeli hostages rescued 67 Palestinians killed will Netanyahu Jeremy see this latest offensive as a success well to start with the Israelis are saying this is not the big offensive that people have been talking about uh you know the issue as I was saying in that video the issue is that they they want to go down and uh as they would see it go after Hamas in that area but there are these roughly million and a half civilians who were also there um so this was a raid to get those hostages out and the Army the Israeli Army has been saying that they've known about their whereabouts for some time and they've been planning this and they decided to go in under a very heavy bombardment and subsequently is they pulled out an even heavier bombardment which is why so many Palestinians were killed but it's not the big raid however of course for Mr Netanyahu it's Vindication of his point of view which he says to get hostages out it's not about doing deals with the terrorists of Hamas it's actually about showing that Israel is strong and remorseless and uh and that Hamas will therefore be forced to give up the people we saw in your report there that um the the population of Rafa has swelled um people seeking safety heading there but but they face further attacks what what can they do now I think the people in Rafa at the moment are there's nothing they can do uh when they they they talk in terms that we sit here waiting for our fate we talk here we sit here waiting for death as's they've ended up in Rafa because they've they've run out of places to hide they've gone right down to the south of Gaza and the the very heavily defended Egyptian border is a hard stop for them uh the so the uh the Americans are putting a lot of pressure on Israel if they're going to attack in a big way Rafa I mean a really big way taking days or weeks is to move those people out so there are some theories that they might be moved back up to the north of Gaza which by the way is a wasteland uh but I mean how moving 1.5 million people in short order uh you know it's a I think there's a lot of magical thinking involved in those theories I I don't see where anywhere in Gaza is safe what is the situation like that you're hearing from from people in refer at the moment we're going to be speaking to someone from UNICEF uh who who's in Rafa but but it is the situation as dire as we're hearing I think it's desperate I think it's absolutely desperate these are people don't forget who many of whom have lost everything their homes further north are in Ruins many of them have lost members of their famili sometimes large numbers of people from their families they haven't had they haven't eaten properly in a long time shortages of water uh living out of doors uh it is you know it's not like they're on a camping holiday there they're in they're they are uh going through massive trauma that is going to affect the the way they think and look at life I think from until the day that they die okay Jeremy B we'll leave it there for now thank you very much for joining us well as we've been reporting the Hamas ran Health Ministry says at least 67 people died in a bar of Israeli air strikes this Palestinian described what happened during the Israeli bombardment at approximately midnight we heard the sounds of strong explosions as if hell had opened up on the civilians look what happened the Israelis claimed that they freed hostages from this place but we don't know what happened we were sleeping in our homes and we don't know anything we didn't see any hostages here but we saw a helicopter landing there was Heavy shooting as if it was a very big battle the world has turned into hell for the lives of civilians well the UK's foreign secretary Lord Cameron has warned against a planned Israeli invasion of Rafa which is providing Refuge to more than half of gaza's 2.3 million population well we are very concerned about what is happening in in Rafa because let's be clear the people there many of them have moved four five six times before getting there and uh it really we think is impossible to to see how you can can fight a war amongst these people there's nowhere for them to go uh they can't go south into Egypt they can't go north in back to their homes because many have been destroyed so we are very concerned about the situation and we want Israel to stop and think very seriously before it takes any further action but above all what we want is an immediate pause in the fighting and we want that pause to lead to a ceasefire a sustainable ceasefire without a return um to further fighting that's what should happen now uh we need to get those hostages out including the British Nationals we need to get the aid in the best way to do that is stop the fighting now and turn that into a permanent sustainable ceasefire Lord Cameron there well this bombar follows Israel saying that two hostages held by Hamas have been rescued in that raid in Rafa in southern Gaza Adan berer and Aro is a relative of the two hostages who are rescued let's hear from him after he was reunited with them at hospital we were a bit shocked we didn't know we we haven't expected it and we saw them and the heart was beating on 200 maybe maybe more and a lot of Tears hugs not many words just being together surrounded by the family and surrounded by our beloved people that were without us for so long more than four months we were so happy to see them um I can't I I don't know what is the real situation that they are mentally um they look okay physically they look okay but I'm sure that you know we're going to have ups and downs in the coming days or weeks and we really um hope for good and we wish them H good health was a relative of two of those host hostages rescued there well let's speak now to heish Young Who is the senior emergency coordinator for Unicef Gaza and he joins me from Rafa thanks so much for your time we do appreciate it here on BBC News uh can you tell me what it was like in Rafa last night uh thanks Kylie um I think I can just verify what some of your previous speakers said um it was horrendous the bombarding started around midnight perhaps a bit before that um and it was relentless certainly nobody in Rafa got any sleep last night um you know we were well the bombardment was all over Rafa um I I believe some of it was a distraction from the actual operation that went on so it was going on everywhere our building was shaking all night um of course we we had the privilege to live in a a a good building I I can only imagine what it was like for people who are the vast majority of whom are living in tent and makeshift shelters um it was uh yeah it was very um it was horrendous I think you've already been given the numbers we've got the same um around 70 casualties 14 residential buildings uh um destroyed but I think uh if I can kyli it's really important to to get Beyond those numbers because you know in situations like this we' we've become overwhelmed by the numbers and we become some somehow immune to them um this morning when I got into this makeshift facility where we are now this is the coordinated Operation Center where the UN ngo's work one of my colleagues a Palestinian colleague from um one of the other organizations working here um was trying to relate what the story you know what last night was like for him and he just broke down weeping telling us how he was lying under his bed with two young granddaughters clinging to him both of them just screaming hysterically uh throughout the night um with every every blast that went off um and uh you know children just should not have to suffer this children should not have to go through this thousands of Israeli children have been traumatized by what happened on the 7th of October and now you know all the children of Gaza um are are are terribly traumatized by everything uh that's going on now we're seeing pictures of the uh the C in um Rafa there and as as we've been saying so many people fled there for safety what is the situation like on the ground for people there so the situation on the ground in Rafa is already catastrophic I mean I think it's people need to to realize that it's not going to be made catastrophic by uh um a full ground Invasion it already is catastrophic there's barely enough food for everyone to eat there's not enough water there's not enough Medical Services or medicines um all children have been out of school since uh the beginning of October there's massive overcrowding with hundreds of thousands of children um and and their families living in appalling conditions like I said the lucky ones are intense um many many are living in makeshift shelters um it's really cold here at night I can't I can't imagine what it's like um you know trying to take care of uh small children out there um you know there is relief coming in organizations like UNICEF and many other good organizations are are doing their best we've bought in hundreds of thousands of pieces of warm clothing for example um for kids um ourselves and wh are bringing in medical supplies and vaccines wh and unra of course are doing a lot world food program is bringing in a lot of food um but there are so many obstacles in the way the security situation makes it very difficult to work um and there are many many bureaucratic obstructions that are put in our way um there's limitations on the trucks there's limitations on our movement um there are limitations at every step of the way that make it uh very very difficult for the humanitarian organizations to work make it difficult for us to reach and take care of children who are in dire need hey Miss Young from UNICEF there in Rafa Forest thank you very much thanks kly we

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Length: 14min 25sec (865 seconds)

Published: Mon Feb 12 2024