The “last refuge” in Gaza
Post Reports
The Washington Post
4.4 • 5.1K Ratings
🗓️ 12 February 2024
⏱️ 18 minutes
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Summary
Today on “Post Reports,” Israel’s latest operation in Gaza, and what it tells us about its strategy in the war.
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On Monday local time, Israel carried out a round of deadly airstrikes on the southern Gaza city of Rafah, where more than 1.4 million Palestinians have sought refuge. The strikes killed at least 67 Palestinians, including women and children, according to the Gaza Health Ministry.
Israel said its aim was to rescue hostages taken by Hamas during the Oct. 7 attack. Under the cover of the strikes, Israel’s special forces freed two elderly hostages. Two Israeli soldiers were killed in the operation.
The airstrikes touched off a wave of fear in Rafah, which has become a last resort for Gazans fleeing violence farther north. The operation has also raised questions about Israel’s strategy and drawn fresh international criticism over the growing humanitarian crisis in Gaza. Miriam Berger breaks down this latest operation and what we know about Israel's plan.
Today’s show was produced by Rennie Svirnovskiy, with help from Emma Talkoff. It was mixed by Sean Carter. It was edited by Ariel Plotnick and Lucy Perkins.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | A Monday local time, Israel carried out a new round of airstrikes in Raffa, a city in southern Gaza. |
| 0:18.8 | Residents were awoken to a barrage of bombardments. |
| 0:23.0 | That's post reporter Miriam Berger. |
| 0:26.0 | She's based in Jerusalem and for months Miriam has been covering the war |
| 0:30.0 | that started after the October 7th attacks by Hamas. |
| 0:34.0 | And Israeli officials said that this bombardment occurred during a rescue attempt |
| 0:40.0 | to find two hostages, two of the more than a hundred hostages still held by Hamas. |
| 0:45.9 | Miriam says the successful rescue of these two hostages came at an important moment for Israel, |
| 0:55.8 | which has been facing mounting pressure to bring its remaining hostages home. |
| 0:57.7 | But in the rescue process, the Israeli military said two of its soldiers were killed. |
| 1:06.0 | Gazan authorities say at least 67 Palestinians, including women and children, were killed in the airstrikes. |
| 1:14.0 | Miriam says the strikes were especially alarming to the many Gazans who have fled to |
| 1:19.0 | Rafa during the war. |
| 1:21.0 | And it's become effectively the last so-called refuge in Gaza, you know, with the caveat that |
| 1:26.0 | Gazans will say that nowhere is safe because bombardments continue everywhere and disease is spreading fast and, you know, there's a whole host of dangers everywhere you go. |
| 1:36.0 | From the newsroom of the Washington Post this is Post Reports. |
| 1:42.8 | I'm Elahay Zadi. |
| 1:44.6 | It's Monday, February 12th. |
| 1:46.9 | Today, Miriam explains what led up |
| 1:49.8 | to Israel's latest operation in Gaza, and what this tells us about Israel's strategy going forward. |
| 2:01.1 | Marion, before we get into more of the details of what's happening on the ground right now, |
| 2:06.2 | I want to step back and ask, you know, how did we get to this point? |
... |
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