Report: Freezing of the 'Humanitarian City' Plan on the Ruins of Rafah

SadaNews Translation - A report from Yedioth Ahronoth, citing a senior Israeli security source, revealed that the Israeli political leadership has frozen the project to establish what is known as the "Humanitarian City" on the ruins of Rafah in southern Gaza, which was supposed to accommodate hundreds of thousands of Palestinians as a first step towards their displacement from the strip.

The Yedioth Ahronoth report added, as translated by SadaNews: "This decision reflects the lack of a long-term strategy by Israel regarding the future of the Gaza Strip, as political discussions since March have shown the Israeli leadership's lack of clear central plans, just as happened in November 2023 when the plan to eliminate the presence of Hamas in the strip was postponed without any executive decisions."

The report continued: "Now, as it is written, it becomes evident that the Israeli initiative that emerged last month, the controversial idea of establishing a 'Humanitarian City' for hundreds of thousands of Palestinians on the ruins of Rafah as a first step towards their voluntary departure, is also being buried."

An Israeli security source confirmed to Yedioth Ahronoth that "there is no alternative plan for the project, and no decision to proceed with it," pointing out that the Israeli government had relied on a hostage deal that included a withdrawal from southern Gaza, but the project is now in the past, amidst public criticism and a clear failure in planning.

The newspaper states that "Israel has shown increasing political flexibility due to international pressure, as it recently agreed to allow unprecedented amounts of humanitarian aid into the Gaza Strip, surpassing 20,000 tons of food weekly. This comes amid ongoing airlift operations for aid involving Emirati and Jordanian planes, without guarantees that such shipments will not reach Hamas," according to Israeli claims.