Israeli media questions Netanyahu’s announcement regarding Rafah

According to reports by Channel 12 and the newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth, which was also reported by the Times of Israel“, “The ground operation in Rafah is not imminent, despite statements Netanyahu“.

Sources say that Netanyahu’s talk about an imminent operation in Rafah “seems more like a pressure tool on Hamas to agree to the faltering hostage deal.”

During a government meeting earlier on Friday, Israeli media reported that the head of the New Hope Party, Gideon Saar, asked Netanyahu for an update on the situation in Rafah, given that the war cabinet member Benny Gantz Others previously said that Israel would enter the city if a hostage deal was not reached by Ramadan.

Netanyahu responded to him, saying: “We did not say that we would be in Rafah during the month of Ramadan, but rather we said that we would move forward according to our plans.”

Tens of thousands of reserve soldiers who were stationed in Gaza withdrew weeks ago, and will have to return en masse if the Israeli army wants to carry out a large-scale ground operation in Rafah.

What happened Friday?

• Netanyahu’s office said he approved a plan to attack a city Rafah In the far south of Gaza, on the border with Egypt, where more than half of the Strip’s 2.3 million people live, after 5 months of war.
• The office added in a brief statement regarding the plan to attack Rafah: “The Israeli army is preparing for military operations and the evacuation of residents.”
• The Prime Minister’s Office has not set a time frame for the start of the attack, and there is no evidence yet of additional preparations on the ground.
• Allies and critics on the global stage are urging Netanyahu to postpone the attack on Rafah, fearing large numbers of civilian deaths.
• Israel says that Rafah is the last stronghold of Hamas, which it pledged to eliminate in the war, and that it will evacuate residents from the city before the operation begins.
• Negotiators failed again this week to reach a ceasefire agreement RAMADAN monthBut Washington and the Arab mediators are still determined to reach an agreement to prevent the Israeli attack on Rafah and allow food aid to stave off famine.
• The Israeli statement said that Hamas’s demands regarding the release of the hostages are still unrealistic, but an Israeli delegation will head to Doha as soon as the security cabinet discusses the situation.