Israel’s Defense Ministry has placed a tender for 40,000 tents in preparation for the humanitarian evacuation of Rafah prior to a planned military offensive, reports the Times of Israel.
The tender for tent suppliers is part of Israel’s broader efforts to ensure civilian safety ahead of the offensive, with nearly 500,000 Arab civilians initially expected to be sheltered. However, that still might not be enough tents, as Rafah has seen its civilian population swell in the past six months from 200,000 to over 1 million.
On Monday, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced a set date has been circled on the calendar to rout the last remaining Hamas brigades from Rafah.
“I received a detailed report on the talks in Cairo—we are constantly working to achieve our goals, first and foremost the release of all our hostages and achieving a complete victory over Hamas,” Netanyahu said. “This victory requires entering Rafah and eliminating the terrorist battalions there. It will happen – there is a date.”
Meanwhile, the US has been trying to discourage Israel from proceeding with its plans for a large-scale invasion, citing serious humanitarian concerns.
“We have made it clear to Israel that we think a full-scale military invasion of Rafah would have an enormously harmful effect on those civilians and that it would ultimately hurt Israel’s security,” said State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller in a Monday press conference.
The IDF had roughly 30,000 troops in Gaza at the peak of the war and has since reduced its troop presence in the strip to several thousand—far fewer than the military presence typically required for such a major ground operation.
