Israel’s offensive against the city of Rafah, which is overcrowded with refugees, is apparently getting closer. However, due to international pressure, the army is changing its tactics. The news at a glance.
According to a media report, Israel wants to carry out its announced ground offensive on the city of Rafah in the south of the sealed-off Gaza Strip in stages. As the Wall Street Journal reported, citing Egyptian officials and former Israeli officers, Israel changed its initial plans for a full-scale attack on the city on the border with Egypt, currently crowded with hundreds of thousands of Palestinian internally displaced people, under pressure from the United States and other countries.
Instead, the number of civilian casualties should be limited by taking a step-by-step approach, it was said. Israel’s military does not comment on its operational plans. However, a few days ago, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced “further painful blows” against the Islamist Hamas. “And this will happen shortly,” he said.
The UN humanitarian coordinator in Gaza, Sigrid Kaag, warned of an attack on Rafah. “Such an action would worsen an ongoing humanitarian catastrophe, with consequences for people who are already displaced and enduring great hardship and suffering,” the Dutchwoman told the UN Security Council in New York. “The United Nations’ ability to deliver aid would be restricted.”
Protests in Israel after Hamas hostage video
Meanwhile, protests broke out in Israel after Hamas released a hostage video. Hundreds of people gathered in Jerusalem near Prime Minister Netanyahu’s residence to demonstrate for the release of hostages held in Gaza, several media outlets reported.
There were clashes with the police. Protesters set fires, set off fireworks, overturned trash cans and blocked traffic, officials said. Four people were arrested, it said. In the video previously released by Hamas, a 24-year-old man can be seen making serious accusations against the Israeli government.
The man says she failed to protect Israeli citizens and let them down. The people who, like him, were kidnapped from Israel to the Gaza Strip in the Hamas massacre on October 7th are in an “underground hell” without food, water and medical treatment. According to Israeli media, his forearm was torn off when the terrorists threw grenades into his hiding place.
He is reportedly a dual Israeli and American citizen. It was initially unclear under what circumstances the video was made and whether the man spoke under pressure or threats. The video recording was also not dated; the Hamas massacre was 201 days ago on Wednesday.
Report: Stalled Talks – Israel Considers Limited Hostage Deal
According to a media report, Israel is considering a limited agreement with the Islamist Hamas to secure the release of at least 20 hostages. Specifically, this is about female, elderly and sick abductees, as the Israeli television station Channel 12 reported. In return, Israel wants to allow displaced people in the Gaza Strip to return to the north of the coastal area. The proposal was discussed at a meeting of the War Cabinet. According to the information, it will be forwarded to the intermediaries shortly. According to the report, Israel wants to use the proposal to circumvent Hamas’s demand for a permanent ceasefire.
It was initially unclear how long a ceasefire would last under the deal and whether and to what extent Palestinian prisoners would be released from Israeli prisons. In order to get the stalled hostage negotiations going again, according to the media, talks between an Israeli negotiating team and an Egyptian delegation in Israel are planned for Friday.
Israel advances plans for Rafah offensive
Until a few weeks ago, Israel assumed that almost 100 of the approximately 130 remaining hostages were still alive. But there are now fears that significantly more of them could already be dead. Meanwhile, according to media reports, Israel is pushing ahead with its plans for an offensive in the city of Rafah in southern Gaza to destroy the last remaining Hamas battalions there.
There are also suspected hostages in Hamas tunnels under Rafah. Allies such as the United States have repeatedly warned against a large-scale ground offensive in Rafah out of concern for the approximately 1.5 million people who are seeking shelter in the city from the fighting in the rest of the Gaza Strip. The city is considered the only one in the sealed-off coastal strip that is still comparatively intact.
