Netanyahu to press on with Rafah offensive
Israeli PM commits to ground assault in south Gazan city despite Western allies’ pleas for caution
ISRAEL will launch a ground assault on Rafah, Benjamin Netanyahu has vowed despite opposition from Western allies and a warning from Hamas that the move will torpedo hostage release negotiations.
“Those who say that under no circumstances should we enter Rafah are basically saying ‘ lose the war. Keep Hamas there’,” the Israeli prime minister told ABC News yesterday.
Over the weekend Lord Cameron, the Foreign Secretary, said that he was
“deeply concerned about the prospect of a military offensive in Rafah,” while Joe Biden, the US president, called the plan “over the top”.
Qatar and Saudi Arabia have also warned of severe repercussions if Israel goes into Rafah.
“Victory is within reach,” Mr Netanyahu said. “We’re going to get the remaining Hamas terrorist battalions in Rafah, which is the last bastion.”
In a call yesterday, Mr Biden told the Israeli leader he needed a plan to guarantee the safety of residents in Rafah before any military advance.
More than half of Gaza’s 2.3 million population is estimated to have fled to Rafah since the invasion with many living in tents along the Egyptian border.
Mr Netanyahu pushed back against claims by aid organisations that the offensive would create a humanitarian
“catastrophe” in Rafah where people are already resorting to using animal feed to make bread.
Mr Netanyahu pledged that there would be “safe passages” for civilians to leave but it is not clear where they will be relocated given the extent of the destruction in Gaza.
He said Israel was “working out a detailed plan” for evacuations.
Human Rights Watch said in a statement that forced displacement is a war crime and that civilians who do not evacuate were still protected by international humanitarian law.
“There is nowhere safe to go in Gaza,” Nadia Hardman, a refugee and migrant rights researcher, said.
The Hamas-owned Al-aqsa television station quoted an unnamed official from the terror group who said that any invasion of Rafah would “blow up” talks mediated by the United States, Egypt and Qatar aimed at a ceasefire and the release of Israeli hostages.
On Twitter, Josep Borrell, the European Union’s foreign policy chief wrote: “An Israeli offensive on Rafah would lead to an unspeakable humanitarian catastrophe and grave tensions with Egypt.”
Egypt is reportedly threatening to suspend its peace treaty with Israel if the offensive goes ahead, two Egyptian officials and a Western diplomat said.
Any break in the 50-year-old Camp David Accords between the two US allies would deal a significant blow to regional security at a time of heightened conflict and tensions across the Middle East stemming from Israel’s war on Hamas.
Cairo warned yesterday of the “dire consequences” of an Israeli military assault on Rafah. “Egypt called for the necessity of uniting all international and regional efforts to prevent the targeting of the Palestinian city of Rafah,” its foreign ministry said in a statement.
However, I s r a el ’s a r my r a di o reported that Egyptian diplomats have said that Cairo will not stop Israel from going into Rafah as long as civilian casualties are minimised. The diplomats are reported to have told their Israeli counterparts that the official narrative would be loudly against the offensive.
It came as the Al Qassam Brigade, Hamas’ armed wing, said yesterday that the continued bombing of the Gaza Strip had killed a further two Israeli hostages and seriously wounded eight others.
Mr Netanyahu said that “enough” hostages were still alive to justify continuing the war so they could be freed.
‘An Israeli offensive on Rafah would lead to an unspeakable catastrophe and grave tensions with Egypt’