Israel marks first post-October 7 Memorial Day, as hundreds of thousands flee Rafah

Israel commemorated Memorial Day on Monday, the first since Hamas's October 7 massacres in the southern part of the country. This year has become the deadliest year in five decades for those killed in war and terror. 

Since Israel's last Memorial Day, 1,600 soldiers and civilians have been killed in combat or by terror, according to figures released by authorities. According to the Defense Ministry, 766 soldiers were killed while serving in the military during the past year. According to the National Insurance Institute, 834 names were also added to the list of civilian terror victims who perished in attacks during the past year, the vast majority of them on October 7.

At 11:00 A.M., sirens announced two minutes of silence, and a formation of four fighter planes then flew over Jerusalem and the surrounding areas. At a ceremony, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed once again to defeat Hamas. He said that Israel has "completed about half" of its war against Hamas in Gaza, "but we are committed to completing this sacred task."

Defense Minister Yoav Gallant told the ceremony that the current war is "the most just war the State of Israel has ever known. This is a war with no choice."

Rafah evacuation 

An estimated 360,000 people have fled Gaza's southernmost city of Rafah over the past week, according to the UN's main relief agency in Gaza.

People are streaming out of Rafah following Israeli evacuation calls ahead of a planned major ground offensive. At least 60,000 people have fled since Sunday alone, according to UNRWA.

Neighboring Egypt issued its strongest objection yet to the Rafah offensive, saying it intends to formally join South Africa's case at the International Court of Justice alleging Israel is committing genocide in Gaza - an accusation Israel rejects. The foreign ministry statement cited "the worsening severity and scope of the Israeli attacks against Palestinian civilians."

Hamas and the armed wing of Islamic Jihad said in a joint statement that they fired mortar bombs against Israeli forces massing inside the Rafah crossing, the sole checkpoint linking Gaza to Egypt, which Israel captured last week.

Fighting in the northern Gaza Strip

Israeli forces pushed deep into the ruins of Gaza's northern edge on Monday to recapture an area where they had claimed to have defeated Hamas months ago. 

Israel described its latest return to the north, where it pulled out most of its troops five months ago, as part of a "mop-up" stage of the war to prevent fighters from returning, and said such operations had always been part of its plan. Palestinians say the need to keep fighting amid the ruins of previous battles is proof Israel's military objectives are unattainable.

In central Gaza, staff at the Al Aqsa hospital in Deir al-Balah said an Israeli strike killed four people.

Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari, the top Israeli military spokesman, said forces were also operating in the northern towns of Beit Lahiya and Beit Hanoun, which were heavily bombed in the war's opening days.

Hamas's military wing said it shelled Israeli special forces east of Jabaliya and fired mortar shells at troops and vehicles entering the Rafah border crossing area.

Bomb shipment on hold

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken reiterated opposition to a major military assault on Rafah, and told CBS that Israel would "be left holding the bag on an enduring insurgency" without an exit from Gaza and postwar governance plan.

Jack Lew, the U.S. ambassador to Israel, signaled on Sunday that the Rafah incursion was still on a scale that Washington considers acceptable.

"The president was clear in the interview he gave the other evening that what Israel has done so far hasn't crossed over into the area where our disagreements lie," Lew told Israel's Channel 12 TV, without elaborating on what that area entails.

"I'm hoping we don't end up with real disagreement."

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Halting arms exports to Israel is "not a wise path" and would only strengthen Hamas, UK foreign secretary Lord Cameron said Sunday. 

Asked whether the U.K. would follow the U.S. in threatening to cut the supply of offensive weapons to Israel if it carried out an attack on the southern Gaza city of Rafah, Cameron said the two countries cannot be compared because unlike the U.S. Britain supplies a very small amount of Israel's weapons.

Cameron said the U.K. did not support a major offensive in Rafah without a clear plan about how civilians can be protected.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Sunday said Adolf Hitler would be "jealous" of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for what he called Israel's "genocidal methods" in the Gaza Strip.

Erdogan claimed Sunday that Hamas had recently agreed to a truce deal, "but Israel does not want a ceasefire, citing its desire to occupy all of Gaza."

He appeared to be referring to Hamas's claim last Monday to have accepted a truce agreement with Israel, though it later emerged that the proposal it said had come from Egyptian and Qatari mediators included several elements fundamentally different from what Israel had agreed to. Jerusalem swiftly rejected the proposal for falling short of its "vital demands."

Erdogan has not officially condemned Hamas's slaughter of Israeli civilians.

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