Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has renewed his promise that Israel will launch a ground attack on Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip, amid ongoing ceasefire talks looking shaky to reach a ceasefire agreement.
Netanyahu said on Tuesday that Israel would destroy the Hamas battalions there “with or without a deal” to achieve a “total victory” in the nearly seven-month war.
Israel and Hamas are negotiating a possible ceasefire agreement and an exchange of hostages held by Palestinian groups in Gaza for prisoners held in Israeli prisons.
“The idea that we will stop the war before all its objectives are achieved is out of the question. “We will enter Rafah and eliminate Hamas’s battalions there – with or without a deal, to achieve total victory,” the prime minister said at a meeting with families of hostages held by armed groups in Gaza.
Hamas has repeatedly said it will not accept an agreement that does not include a permanent ceasefire and a full withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza – both of which were major sticking points in the negotiations.
Netanyahu has repeatedly promised for months to pursue an invasion of Rafah, despite public opposition from Israel’s main ally, the United States.
Aid groups have warned that an attack on Rafah, where more than a million displaced Palestinians are seeking refuge, would be catastrophic.
Israel’s war on Gaza followed Hamas’s unprecedented raid on southern Israel on October 7, which killed at least 1,139 people, mostly civilians, and seized about 250 others as prisoners, according to an Al Jazeera tally based on Israeli statistics. Israel said militants were still holding about 100 prisoners and the remains of more than 30 others.
Israel’s war on Gaza has killed more than 34,000 people, according to Palestinian health authorities. The war has forced about 80 percent of Gaza’s 2.3 million residents from their homes, mostly in the southern Gaza Strip, and caused widespread destruction in several cities while pushing the north to the brink of famine.
Imminent attack
Israel’s Army Radio said a plan to attack Rafah would be approved “in the coming days” unless there is a ceasefire agreement with Hamas.
Israel’s GLZ radio attributed the information to “security officials” and said in a social media post: “The order will be given to launch an operation in Rafah” if no progress is made in “negotiations on an agreement” within a few days .
The Israeli media company N12 reported in an article on
The Families of the Heroes’ Forum: Prime Minister Netanyahu told us at the meeting that the evacuation of the population in Rafah has already begun in preparation for an operation that will take place soon, and said that all Cabinet ministers support this.@amit_segal
— The News – N12 (@N12News) April 30, 2024
Translation: The Families of the Heroes’ Forum: Prime Minister Netanyahu told us at the meeting that the evacuation of the population in Rafah has already begun in preparation for an operation that will take place soon, and said that all cabinet ministers support this.
However, UNRWA chief Philippe Lazzarini said on Tuesday that “people have not yet been asked to evacuate Rafah.”
“But there is a feeling that it could happen at any time if there is no ceasefire agreement this week,” he said during a news conference in Geneva.
Reuters news agency reported that “a person close to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu” said Israel was waiting for Hamas to respond to its proposal before sending a team to Egypt to continue ceasefire talks.
According to British Foreign Secretary David Cameron, the Israeli proposal would call for a 40-day pause in fighting, rather than a permanent ceasefire that Hamas has repeatedly called for.
A response from Hamas to Israel’s latest proposal is expected by Wednesday evening, Al Jazeera’s Stefanie Dekker reported.
Hamas is considering the proposal
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, who is expected to visit Israel on his final trip to the region that began Monday in Saudi Arabia, said Monday the best way to ease the humanitarian crisis is for both sides to agree to a ceasefire some.
Blinken said the latest Israeli ceasefire proposal was an “extraordinarily generous” offer and that Hamas should accept it “quickly.”
Hamas said it was continuing to examine the Israeli proposal. A senior official from the group noted that calls for a permanent end to the war continued to be ignored.
“It is clear from the Israeli newspaper that they still insist on two main issues: they do not want a complete ceasefire and they are not seriously talking about the withdrawal from Gaza. In fact, they are still talking about their presence, which means they will continue to occupy Gaza,” Hamdan told Al Jazeera on Monday.
“We have serious questions for the mediators. If there are positive answers, I think we can move forward.”
Egypt, Qatar and the USA are mediating talks between Israel and Hamas.