Israeli PM to troops: Prepare Rafah push
JERUSALEM: Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has ordered troops to prepare to enter the overcrowded southern Gazan city of Rafah, even as a new round of talks aimed at securing a truce with Hamas were set to open in Egypt’s capital on Thursday.
Netanyahu announced the order after rejecting Hamas’ response to a ceasefire proposal at the center of intense recent diplomatic efforts, though visiting United States Secretary of State Antony Blinken insisted on Wednesday that he still saw “space for agreement to be reached.”
Concerns were mounting, meanwhile, for the hundreds of thousands of Palestinians who have sought refuge in Rafah, located along the Egyptian border, with United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres warning that a military push into the city “would exponentially increase what is already a humanitarian nightmare.”
In televised remarks on Wednesday, Netanyahu said he had ordered troops to “prepare to operate” in the city and that “total victory” over Hamas was just months away.
Regarding the ceasefire proposal, he added: “Giving in to the bizarre demands of Hamas that we have just heard will ... only invite another massacre.”
Blinken, who is on yet another trip to the region to press for a truce, told reporters in the western Israeli city of Tel Aviv that Hamas’ counterproposal at least offered an opportunity “to pursue negotiations.”
“While there are some clear nonstarters in Hamas’ response, we do think it creates space for agreement to be reached, and we will work at that relentlessly until we get there,” Blinken said hours after meeting Netanyahu.
A new round of negotiations aimed at achieving “calm” in Gaza and a prisoner-hostage exchange was set to open in Cairo, an Egyptian official said.
Cairo was urging “both parties to show the necessary flexibility” to make a deal, the official added, speaking on condition of anonymity.
A Hamas source with knowledge of the matter confirmed that the Palestinian militant group had agreed to the talks with the goals of “a ceasefire, an end to the war and a prisoner exchange deal.”
The war in Gaza was triggered by Hamas’ unprecedented attacks on southern Israel on October 7, which resulted in the deaths of about 1,160 people, mostly civilians, according to an Agence France-Presse (AFP) tally based on official Israeli figures.
Israel vowed to eliminate Hamas in response and launched airstrikes and a ground offensive that have killed at least 27,708 people, mostly women and children, Gaza’s Health Ministry said.
The ministry said on Thursday morning that an additional 109 people had been killed in overnight strikes.
Militants also seized about 250 hostages on October 7. Israel says 132 remain in Gaza, of whom 29 are believed to have died.
The fate of the hostages has gripped Israeli society, and while Netanyahu has repeatedly insisted that military pressure is the only way to bring them home, he has faced mounting calls to strike a deal.
Addressing the prime minister, Adina Moshe, one of the hostages released as part of a temporary ceasefire deal brokered in November, told a news conference in Tel Aviv: “Everything is in your hands.”
“And I’m very afraid and very concerned that if you continue with this line of destroying Hamas, there won’t be any hostages left to release,” she added.
As Israel prepared to press further south, fears were also growing for the displaced Palestinian civilians thronging Rafah, pressed against Gaza’s southern border with Egypt.
More than half of Gaza’s 2.4 million people are estimated to have sought safety in the city.
“Their living conditions are abysmal — they lack the basic necessities to survive, stalked by hunger, disease and death,” UN humanitarian chief Martin Griffiths said in a statement.
“As the war encroaches further into Rafah, I am extremely concerned about the safety and well-being of families which have endured the unthinkable in search of safety,” he added.
Blinken stopped short of calling on Israel not to move on the city, but did voice concern at the new push, saying any “military operation that Israel undertakes needs to put civilians first and foremost.”