Sydney - Middle East Times Int’l: On Monday, February 12, Israeli airstrikes killed 67 Palestinians in Rafah, and Israeli forces freed two hostages. Days prior, on Friday night, Israel conducted three raids on residential homes, killing at least 28 people.

These operations follow Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s instruction that the military “prepare a plan to evacuate civilians from the southern Gaza Strip town of Rafah ahead of an expected ground invasion,” despite pushback from the United States. More than 1.4 million Palestinians are currently seeking safety in Rafah, a significant increase from the city’s pre-war population of about 280,000 people.