Joe Biden says he’s had calls with Israel, Egypt and Qatar about a six-week ceasefire – as he warned Benjamin Netanyahu against conducting a ground operation in Rafah without a “credible plan” to ensure the safety of civilians. Listen to a Daily podcast special on this as you scroll.
‘There will be a plan’: Israel adamant Rafah offensive will minimise civilian casualties
A clear plan to evacuate civilians in Rafah will be drawn up and implemented before Israel Defence Forces send troops in on the ground, an Israeli spokeswoman has said.
“There will be a plan,” Orly Goldschmidt, a spokeswoman for Israeli embassy in the UK, told Sky News.
When pressed on where the 1.4 million people estimated to be in the city should go to flee the fighting, she said it was still being looked at.
“It’s something that’s being decided, that’s being thought of clearly and our prime minister has said that they (the IDF) will not go into Rafah before there is a clear plan for them (civilians) to evacuate, for them to find a safer place,” she said.
“Maybe [they could be sent] back up north where places are safer,” she added.
The United Nations and humanitarian NGOs have insisted there are no safe places remaining in Gaza and the international community has urged Israel not to proceed with a ground assault of Rafah.
When asked how long she thought the fighting would go on for, she estimated “around a month”.