What’s behind Israel’s threat to attack Rafah?

Demonstrators gather with signs during a protest by Israeli activists against the war in the Gaza Strip and the planned ground operation in Rafah, outside the Kirya military base which houses the defence ministry in Tel Aviv, on February 13, 2024 [Jack Guez/AFP]

On February 12, Saleh Abou Ghanem heard Israeli warplanes buzzing in the sky from night until dawn.

They were bombing Rafah, the southern Gaza town near the Egyptian border where 1.4 million Palestinians have sought relative safety from relentless Israeli attacks. While Abou Ghanem survived the attacks, he learned that his aunt was killed in her home by an Israeli bomb.