The Prime Minister of Israel, Benjamin Netanyahucommitted on Tuesday to launch a raid on Rafahthe city in southern Gaza where hundreds of thousands of Palestinians are taking refuge from a war that has lasted seven months.
Netanyahu noted that Israel will enter Rafah to destroy the Hamas battalions present there “with or without an agreement””.
Israel and Hamas are negotiating a ceasefire agreement for the release of the hostages and bring some relief to the Palestinians in the besieged enclave.
“The idea that we will stop the war before achieving all its objectives is misplaced. We will enter Rafah and eliminate the Hamas battalions there — with or without a deal — to achieve total victory,” Netanyahu said during a meeting with relatives of captives held by insurgents in Gaza, according to a statement from his office.
The Israeli leader has pledged to achieve “total victory” in the war and has faced pressure from his nationalist government partners to launch an offensive on Rafahwhich according to Israel is the last great bastion of the Palestinian terrorist group.
The international community, including Israel’s main ally, USAhas raised the alarm about the fate of civilians if the army invades the area.
Netanyahu has repeatedly refused to stop the war in exchange for the return of the hostages and says that the operation in Rafah is crucial to destroying insurgents after his raid October 7 in southern Israel. His government could be threatened if he agrees to a pact because the most conservative members of the executive have demanded an attack on the city.
Earlier in the day, the Egyptian state satellite television Al-Qahera News reported that those responsible for Hamas They left Cairo after maintaining talks with Egyptian officials on a new ceasefire proposal in Gaza.
The network, which has close ties to Egyptian security agencies, said the Hamas delegation to return to Egyptian capital with written response to ceasefire proposalbut did not offer dates.
On Monday, the delegation led by Khalil al-Hayyaa senior Palestinian insurgent group official, held talks with Egyptian officials focused on proposal prepared by the country to establish a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip.
Next to Qatar and USA, Egypt Act like mediator between Israel and Hamas to achieve a truce after almost seven months of war. In the last weeks, Cairo has stepped up its mediation efforts in a bid to prevent an Israeli offensive on Rafahthe southernmost city of Gaza, on the border with Egypt, where more than half of the population of the besieged enclave takes refuge.
The terms of the proposal have not been made public. But the Israeli media said that Israel has softened its stance and now ask for release of 33 hostages — from the initial 40 — in exchange for some 900 Palestinians imprisoned in their prisons. It is believed that Hamas has around 100 Israelis captives in Gaza and the remains of at least 30 others.
For its part, the Gaza Ministry of Health said in its daily report on Tuesday that the territory’s hospitals received 47 bodies in the last 24 hours, in addition to 61 wounded.
The war in Gaza began after the unprecedented assault of the October 7 over southern Israel in which insurgents killed around 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and took about 250 more hostage.
The subsequent Israeli air and ground campaign in the Strip has claimed the lives of at least 34,536 Palestinians, mostly women and minors, according to the Gaza Ministry of Health, controlled by Hamas and whose count does not differentiate between civilian victims and combatants. At least 77,704 more people have been injured, he added.
The Israeli military claims its troops have killed some 13,000 terrorists since October, but has offered no evidence to support its claim.
(With information from AP)
