Satellites show Israel building tents near Khan Yunis in preparation for the Rafah attack

Israel continued to defy the international community, including its closest allies, and proceeded with its preparations to launch an attack on the city of Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip.

The American Associated Press said that satellite images it analyzed appeared to show the establishment of a new complex of tents near the city of Khan Yunis, as the Israeli occupation army continued to indicate its plans to launch an attack targeting the city of Rafah.

The agency indicated that the tents were set up near Khan Yunis, which has been targeted by repeated Israeli military operations over recent weeks. Israel said it plans to remove civilians from Rafah during the expected attack on the southern city, to which hundreds of thousands of Gazans fled during the war, which has entered its seventh month, but the Israeli army said it was participating in setting up tents, according to the Associated Press.

Israel's brutal war on the Gaza Strip, which completed 200 days, caused the martyrdom of more than 34 thousand Palestinians, two-thirds of whom were children and women. The war caused the destruction of the two largest cities in the Strip, and left widespread devastation. About 80% of Gaza's population fled their homes and were displaced to other areas within the Strip.

Israel's preparation for the Rafah attack comes at a time when the US House of Representatives approved an aid package worth $26 billion, including about $9 billion in humanitarian aid for Gaza, which experts say is on the verge of famine, and billions more have been allocated to Israel. The Senate could pass the package on Tuesday, and President Biden has promised to sign it immediately.