Netanyahu vows forces will invade Rafah ‘with or without Hamas deal’
ISRAELI prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu pledged yesterday to launch an incursion into a Gaza city sheltering hundreds of thousands of Palestinians.
Mr Netanyahu said Israel would enter Rafah to destroy Hamas’s battalions there – “with or without a deal”.
Israel and Hamas are negotiating a ceasefire agreement meant to free hostages and bring some relief to the nearly seven-month-long war.
Mr Netanyahu has vowed to achieve “total victory” in the war and has faced pressure from his nationalist governing partners to launch an offensive in Rafah, which Israel says is Hamas’s last major stronghold.
In a meeting with families of hostages held by militants in Gaza, Mr Netanyahu said: “The idea that we will stop the war before achieving all of its goals is out of the question.
“We will enter Rafah and we will eliminate Hamas’s battalions there – with a deal or without a deal – to achieve the total victory.”
Hopes have risen in recent days that the sides could move towards a deal that would avert an Israeli incursion into Rafah, where more than half of Gaza’s 2.3 million population are sheltering.
The international community including the US, Israel’s top ally, has raised alarm over the the fate of civilians in Rafah if Israel invades.
Mr Netanyahu has repeatedly rejected stopping the war in return for hostage releases and says an offensive on Rafah is crucial to destroying the militants after their October 7 attacks on Israel triggered the conflict.
His government could be threatened if he agrees to a deal because hardline Cabinet members have demanded an attack on Rafah.
It was not clear if Mr Netanyahu’s comments were meant to appease his governing partners or whether they would have any bearing on any emerging deal with Hamas.
The current deal being discussed, brokered by the US, Egypt and Qatar, would see the release of dozens of hostages in exchange for a six-week halt in fighting as part of an initial phase, according to an Egyptian official and Israeli media.
Hundreds of Palestinian prisoners held by Israel would also be released.
But a sticking point remains over what happens next.
Hamas has demanded assurances that an eventual release of all hostages will bring a complete end to Israel’s nearly seven-month assault in Gaza and a withdrawal of its troops from the devastated territory.
Israel has offered only an extended pause, vowing to resume its offensive once the first phase of the deal is over.
The issue has repeatedly obstructed efforts by the mediators during months of talks.
Mr Netanyahu has repeatedly rejected stopping the war in return for hostage releases and says an offensive on Rafah is crucial to destroying the militants. The West Bank-based Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas said on Monday that an invasion of Rafah would be the “biggest catastrophe in the Palestinian people’s history”.
Israeli sources told the Reuters news agency on Monday that plans to attack Rafah would be shelved in favour of a “sustained period of calm” if a ceasefire agreement between Hamas and Israeli was reached.
Days earlier, Israel’s foreign minister Israel Katz told Israeli Channel 12 television that “if there will be a deal, we will suspend the [Rafah] operation”.
About 130 hostages from among 253 kidnapped by Hamas during its unprecedented attack on Israel on October 7 remain unaccounted for.
At least 34 of them are presumed dead.
The rest have been released or rescued. Indirect talks have been at an impasse for weeks, although US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Monday that he hoped Hamas would accept what he has called Israel’s “extraordinarily generous offer” for a truce.
Meanwhile, the head of the UN’S refugee organisation has warned that the looming invasion was causing people in Rafah to live in a state of “constant traumatic stress disorder”.
“People have not yet been asked to evacuate from Rafah, but there is a sense that if there is no deal this week that could happen,” Philippe Lazzarini told reporters.
“My colleagues on the ground are describing constant state of trauma among the people.”
The Israel-hamas war was sparked by the unprecedented October 7 raid into southern Israel in which militants killed around 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and abducted around 250 hostages.
Israel says the militants are still holding around 100 hostages and the remains of more than 30 others.
The war in Gaza has killed more than 34,000 Palestinians, according to local health officials.
The war has driven around 80% of Gaza’s population of 2.3 million from their homes, caused vast destruction in several towns and cities, and pushed northern Gaza to the brink of famine.
We will enter Rafah and we will eliminate Hamas’s battalions there