Israel remains steadfast in its war goal of destroying Hamas. However, the US ally wants to prevent an invasion of Rafah – and is threatening consequences. The news at a glance.
Israel has come under further pressure with the open threat of a weapons ban from its ally the USA in the event of an invasion of Rafah. US President Joe Biden said in an interview on CNN that his country would not supply the weapons for a comprehensive invasion of the city in the south of the Gaza Strip, which is overcrowded with hundreds of thousands of Palestinian refugees.
The US government had already withheld a shipment of ammunition because of Israel’s actions in Rafah. Senior Israeli officials expressed their “deep frustration” about this and warned that it could jeopardize indirect negotiations for a ceasefire and the release of hostages, two informed sources told the Axios news portal.
Israel continues its fight against Hamas
Meanwhile, Israel’s army continues the fight against the Islamist Hamas in the sealed-off Gaza Strip. The Israeli military said during the night that Hamas positions in the central section of the coastal area were being attacked. Israeli soldiers had also advanced into parts of Rafah on the border with Egypt the night before. According to its own statements, the army took control of the border crossing on the Palestinian side.
“The US said it wanted us to limit the operation, to hold off on a full-scale invasion. And Israel did that and is still being punished,” the Wall Street Journal quoted Michael Oren, Israel’s former ambassador to Washington, as saying .
Operation in Rafah is intended to force Hamas to negotiate a solution
He therefore described Biden’s threat to stop arms supplies in the event of an invasion of Rafah as a “preemptive strike” against any Israeli measure to expand operations against Hamas in the city. In the past few days and weeks, the USA had repeatedly warned Israel’s government against a large-scale ground offensive in Rafah – Biden spoke of a “red line”.
The Wall Street Journal quoted Israeli analysts as saying that the operation in Rafah was intended to pressure Hamas into accepting an agreement that falls short of the terrorist organization’s demands. Hamas continues to insist, among other things, on a withdrawal of Israeli troops, which Israel strictly rejects.
The only way to continue negotiations at the moment is to continue attacking, the newspaper quoted a former head of Israel’s National Security Council as saying. “This is our way of getting them to take it seriously.” Hamas, on the other hand, accused Israel of using the negotiations as a pretext for an invasion of Rafah.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is trying to “make up excuses to avoid negotiations and shift the blame to Hamas and the mediators,” said Izzat al-Rishk, a member of the Hamas Politburo, in a statement on Telegram.
Biden: Invasion of Rafah would be wrong
According to Netanyahu, the operation in Rafah is aimed at freeing the remaining hostages and destroying the last Hamas battalions in the city. US President Biden made it clear in the CNN interview that the Israeli military had not yet “advanced into the population centers – what they have done is right on the border.”
He made it clear to Netanyahu and his war cabinet that they could not count on US support “if they actually go to these population centers.” It is “simply wrong” – and the USA cannot provide the weapons and artillery for it. According to the United Nations, a total of 1.2 million people are currently in Rafah, more than half of Gaza’s entire population.
Germany has also repeatedly warned Israel not to invade the city because of the many civilians in Rafah. Meanwhile, the Wall Street Journal quoted analysts as saying that Israel’s army could attack in waves in different parts of the city. The affected civilians should first get to safety.
On Monday, Israel asked around 100,000 Palestinians to leave the eastern part of Rafah for security reasons. The residents should go to the Al-Mawasi area near the coast, where their supplies of food, water and medicine can be guaranteed.
UN: So far no relief supplies have passed through the Kerem Shalom border crossing
The Rafah border crossing remains closed. Together with Kerem Shalom, he is the main bottleneck for aid deliveries to the southern Gaza Strip. Despite Israel’s announcement of the opening of Kerem Shalom, no aid has been delivered to the Gaza Strip, according to the United Nations. This was said by spokesman Stéphane Dujarric in New York.
