Israel to begin ‘soon’ evacuating civilians in Rafah
Israel is expected to "soon" begin evacuating civilians from Rafah ahead of a planned ground attack on Gaza's southernmost city, a state-owned media outlet has reported.
Close relatives of ‘wanted’ Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar have reportedly crossed over to Egypt through the Rafah crossing.
Media reports said that Sinwar’s sister’s children crossed into Egypt only recently. Several other top Hamas leaders have also managed to smuggle out their nears and dears out of Gaza into safe zones in Egypt.
According to a report by the Israeli news channel N12, Hamas police spokesman Ayman al Batanji had used his influence to smuggle his two children out into Egypt through the Rafah crossing.
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Four children of Hamas political bureau member Shameh Elsraj also managed to escape to Egypt. Israeli media reported that Shameh Elsraj may have been killed in an Israeli missile attack. However, Hamas nor other militant groups have announced his death till now.
It may be noted that senior Hamas political leaders, including Khaled Mashal, Ismael Haniyeh and Moussa Abu Marzouk, were living in comfort zones of Doha, the capital of Qatar and are billionaires themselves.
Interestingly, Hebrew and Arabic media have reported that crossing the Rafah border for an ordinary Palestinian was costing anywhere between 6,000 to 7,500 US dollars which is an astronomical sum for the beleaguered Palestinian.
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