Why have all eyes been on Rafah? We have been led to believe that the intense focus on a town the size of Rochdale in southern Gaza derives from purely humanitarian concerns, as if any Israeli operation there would trigger a civilian catastrophe on the scale of Rwanda or Darfur. Take a closer look, though, and this narrative quickly falls apart.
The Israeli operation taking place as I write is remarkable. According to Colonel Richard Kemp, the former commander of British forces who is closely following the conflict in Gaza, the current casualty ratio in Rafah is about one civilian for every ten combatants killed, which is several orders of magnitude more humane than any conflict in history. This was achieved after Israel successfully evacuated a million displaced people from the town, despite the American-led international community wailing for months that such a move was impossible. What is going on?
In all likelihood, the fall of Rafah will mean the end of Hamas as a meaningful fighting force
One giveaway is the behaviour of Egypt.
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