This handout picture released by the Israeli army on April 22, 2024 shows Israeli soldiers operating in the Gaza Strip. (Credit: Israeli Army via AFP)
The Israeli army announced on Wednesday that it is mobilizing two reserve brigades that have been operating in northern Israel on the front with Hezbollah, sending them to southern Gaza instead.
Israeli media reported that the 2nd Reserve Brigade of the 146th Division and the 679th Reserve Brigade of the 210th Division will be transferred from the north of Israel, to the Gaza Strip.
The move follows a series of developments that seem to be indicating preparations by the Israeli army to carry through with what would certainly be a devastating operation on Rafah, in southern Gaza, where more than 1.5 million people are sheltering, having been displaced by the Israeli offensive elsewhere in the besieged Strip.
An elderly man walks along a market street in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip on April 23, 2024. (Credit: Mohammed Abed/AFP)
A report published by Al Jazeera on Tuesday revealed satellite imagery obtained and assessed by the news outlet's fact-checking team that shows troops and military vehicles stationed at army bases and outposts along the border with Gaza.
The analysis indicated that Israel has already deployed more than 800 military vehicles — around 100 near the north of the Strip and around 700 in the Negez desert, near the south of the Strip.
The satellite imagery also shows nine military outposts just outside of Gaza. Three were established in November and December of 2023, Al Jazeera reports, while six were set up between January and March of this year. According to the report, the outposts house soldiers, operational command centers and military vehicles.
Another report, published by the Wall Street Journal on Tuesday, cited Egyptian officials who had allegedly been briefed on a plan in cooperation with Israel and the United Arab Emirates for the evacuation of Rafah, ahead of the anticipated and highly criticized military operation.
The Israeli military claims that Rafah is Hamas' last stronghold and that in order to accomplish its stated goal of eliminating the Palestinian group, it must invade the city, which is pressed up against the closed border with Egypt.
The UN and other humanitarian organizations, as well as several state actors, including Israel's closest ally the United States, have condemned Israel's plans, saying further military action in Rafah would result in more widespread killing of civilians.