Intel shows Israel preparing for escalation in Gaza
Having one eye on Iran after their retaliation attacks on April 14, satellite images obtained by Al Jazeera on April 24 show that Israel is ramping up its already brutal war on Gaza.
Iran’s first ever direct attack on Israel came just under two weeks after their embassy in Damascus was bombed by the country, killing several Iranian military officials.
Israel’s Air Force, with the help from western and regional allies, managed to intercept the overwhelming majority of some 300 drones and missiles launched into the country with minimal damages being recorded.
The images, assessed by Al Jazeera’s Sanad verification unit, are from mid-February and the end of March and show nine Israeli military outposts within a 5km distance from the country’s border with Gaza.
The footage also showed around 800 military vehicles at the border as well as in the Negev Desert, just over 30 km away from the Strip.
Three outposts were established in November and December last year and the other six were built between January and March.
The analysis shows that Israel is ramping up its military offensive all around Gaza and most notably, the densely populated city of Rafah – the enclave’s most southern city and at the border with Egypt.
Israeli troops pulled out of Khan Younis and southern Gaza more generally on April 7. A spokesperson for the IDF said the reason behind the move is that the army is preparing for future operations.
READ: France, Egypt and Jordan warn Israel over Rafah
Ziad Ayyad, who is one of nearly 1.9 million Gazans that have been displaced due to incessant Israeli bombardments, distressingly told Al Jazeera: “After seven months that’s it, we are waiting for death, one by one. We don’t know when and how.”
On April 8, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu set a date for the start of the Rafah invasion but has yet to publicly reveal it. He insists that such a ground offensive needs to occur, claiming that Hamas has numerous brigades as well as operation units in the city.
Such an invasion is advised against by human rights groups and even by the country’s biggest allies.
US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken said on April 19 that his country “cannot support a major military operation in Rafah”.
Prior to October 7, the city was home to 300,000 people however a mass internal diaspora since then has caused the population to increase fivefold.
On April 20, 24 people, mostly children, were killed in Rafah by Israeli airstrikes.
Al Jazeera
