Israeli government spokesman David Mencer said Israel is “moving ahead” with its planned military operation in the southern Gaza city of Rafah, where many Palestinians are sheltering.
Jerusalem: The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) have intensified their presence in the Rafah region of the Gaza Strip, signaling a potential ground invasion. Israeli forces are “moving forward” with a ground operation in Rafah, a city in the southern Gaza Strip, despite global warnings of a humanitarian crisis. The military is making arrangements to evacuate Palestinian civilians before the anticipated assault on Hamas strongholds in Rafah. A senior Israeli defense official confirmed the progress, stating that all necessary preparations for taking over Rafah are finalized, awaiting government approval for the operation to commence.
A spokesperson for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government said that Israel was “moving ahead” with a ground operation in Rafah. The defence official, however, gave no timeline.
The elite Nahal Brigade, known for its strategic capabilities, has been strategically deployed, local media reported. Despite objections from the US and Western allies, Israel’s defense ministry has mobilized key brigades, including the Yuftah armoured brigade and Carmeli infantry brigade, to facilitate the Nahal brigade’s movement into Rafah.
This move follows the brigade’s prior involvement in operations in Central Gaza and Khan Younis, areas crucial to Hamas. The IDF’s readiness is evident with six Hamas battalions, including those in Rafah, under surveillance. The Israeli government awaits a political decision to initiate the ground offensive, with the Nahal brigade poised to lead.
High-level Israeli officials have engaged with Egyptian counterparts to address concerns over potential civilian and refugee crises resulting from an attack on Rafah. Egypt’s President El-Sissi and US Secretary of State Antony Blinken have both expressed apprehensions regarding the situation.
Israeli intelligence agencies emphasize the significance of the Rafah operation in the broader conflict against Hamas. Prime Minister Netanyahu’s affirmation of a forthcoming ground operation underscores the gravity of the situation, although a specific timeline remains undisclosed.
- Israeli government spokesman David Mencer said Israel is “moving ahead” with its planned military operation in the southern Gaza city of Rafah, where 1.5 Palestinians are sheltering.
- Israel, which launched its war to annihilate Hamas after the Islamist group’s Oct. 7 attacks on Israeli towns, says Rafah is home to four Hamas combat battalions reinforced by thousands of retreating fighters, and it must defeat them to achieve victory.
- Egypt says it will not allow Gazans to be pushed across the border onto its territory. Cairo had warned Israel against moving on Rafah, which “would lead to massive human massacres, losses (and) widespread destruction”, its State Information Service said.
- Egypt welcomed the return of Palestinians northwards from Rafah, believing it to be in the interest of the population despite also serving Israeli plans to besiege Hamas in Rafah.
- Israel has withdrawn most of its ground troops from southern Gaza this month but kept up air strikes and conducted raids into areas its troops abandoned.
- Hamas killed 1,200 people and abducted 253 on Oct 7, according to Israeli tallies. Of those hostages, 129 remain in Gaza, Israeli officials say. More than 260 Israeli troops have been killed in ground fighting since Oct 20, the military says.
- Calls grow for an international investigation into mass graves discovered in the vicinity of Nasser Hospital in Gaza’s Khan Younis as more than 310 bodies are recovered so far.
- Fears for the safety of tens of thousands of civilians in northern Gaza’s Beit Lahiya have surged as Israeli troops attack the city “with extreme force” and order Palestinian residents to flee immediately.
- Hamas has released a video of Israeli-American captive Hersh Goldberg-Polin, who appeared in footage that prompted hundreds of protesters in Jerusalem to m
- arch to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s residence to demand action.
- Yemen’s Houthi rebels have said its fighters targeted the Maersk Yorktown ship and a US warship in the Gulf of Aden, as well as the Israeli ship MSC Veracruz in the Indian Ocean.