Benjamin Netanyahu has promised ‘safe passage’ to civilians as the threat of an Israeli incursion into the densely-populated city of Rafah continues to loom.
Despite international alarm over the potential for carnage in the southern Gaza city, which is crammed with more than half of the enclave’s 2.4 million people, Netanyahu insisted today: ‘We’re going to do it’.
‘We’re going to do it while providing safe passage for the civilian population so they can leave,’ he told ABC News, adding that he believes ‘victory is within reach’.
Israel’s prime minister, who contends ‘victory’ over Hamas cannot be achieved without clearing battalions in Rafah, directed his military on Friday to prepare for the operation, but has not given a timeframe for it.
It remains unclear where the large number of people pressed up against the border with Egypt and sheltering in makeshift tents can go. When asked, Netanyahu would only say Israel is ‘working out a detailed plan’, without giving further information.
Benjamin Netanyahu has promised ‘safe passage’ to civilians but did not provide details of a plan
Gaza’s authorities warned on Saturday that a full-scale Israeli invasion of Rafah could cause ‘tens of thousands’ of casualties
A picture taken from Rafah shows smoke billowing during Israeli bombardment over Khan Yunis in the southern Gaza Strip
Bitter fighting has raged on for more than four months, with Israeli forces sweeping from the north to the south of the embattled Strip.
Rafah has become the last major population centre in Gaza that troops have yet to enter, even as it is bombarded by air strikes almost daily.
At least 28,064 people have been killed in the onslaught, mostly women and children, according to Gaza’s Hamas-run health ministry.
Gaza’s authorities warned on Saturday that a full-scale Israeli invasion of Rafah could cause ‘tens of thousands’ more casualties.
The office of Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas said the move ‘threatens security and peace in the region and the world’ and is ‘a blatant violation of all red lines’.
‘They said Rafah is safe, but it is not. All places are being targeted,’ Palestinian Mohammed Saydam said after an Israeli strike destroyed a police vehicle in the city.
The Israeli military said it killed two ‘senior Hamas operatives’ in a strike on Rafah Saturday.
It was part of a wider bombardment that killed at least 25 people in the city, according to the Hamas-run health ministry.
Palestinians search for missing people under the rubble after an Israeli air strike targeted their home in the Rafah refugee camp, southern Gaza Strip, 10 February 2024
An Israeli armored personnel carrier moves a long the border with Gaza on February 9, 2024 in Southern Israel
Rafah has become the last major population centre in Gaza that troops have yet to enter, even as it is bombarded by air strikes almost daily
The war in Gaza was launched following Hamas’s bloody incursion into southern Israel on October 7, which resulted in the deaths of about 1,160 people, mostly civilians.
Palestinian terrorists also seized 250 hostages, 132 of whom are still in Gaza although 29 are presumed dead, Israel has said.
Israel has vowed not to stop in its military campaign until Hamas is eliminated, but Netanyahu’s announcement on Friday set off a chorus of concern from world leaders and aid groups.
The UK’s foreign secretary, Lord Cameron, said on Saturday that he is ‘deeply concerned’ by Israel’s plan to launch an invasion.
He said in a post on X: ‘Deeply concerned about the prospect of a military offensive in Rafah – over half of Gaza’s population are sheltering in the area.
‘The priority must be an immediate pause in the fighting to get aid in and hostages out, then progress towards a sustainable, permanent ceasefire.’
‘The people in Gaza cannot disappear into thin air,’ German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock wrote on X, adding that an Israeli offensive on Rafah would be a ‘humanitarian catastrophe in the making.’
Saudi Arabia’s foreign ministry warned Saturday of ‘very serious repercussions of storming and targeting’ Rafah and called for an urgent UN Security Council meeting.
Netanyahu announced the plan for a ground operation in Rafah just days after US Secretary of State Antony Blinken visited Israel seeking a ceasefire and hostage-prisoner exchange.
Netanyahu has rejected the proposed truce after what he called ‘bizarre demands’ from Hamas.
But Israel’s plans for Rafah have drawn sharp rebuke from main ally and military backer Washington, with the State Department warning that if not properly planned, such an operation risks ‘disaster’.
In unusually sharp criticism, US President Joe Biden on Thursday called Israel’s retaliatory campaign ‘over the top’.
The war, now in its fifth month, has also spawned intensifying public fury in Israel.
Protesters took to the streets of Tel Aviv on Saturday night to demand the release of the hostages, Netanyahu step down and fresh elections be called.
‘It’s clear Netanyahu is dragging out the war, he has no idea what to do on the day after,’ Israeli protester Gil Gordon said.
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