There is no major offensive in Rafah yet, but Netanyahu is already under enormous pressure. The army is dissatisfied, and international discontent is also growing.
What is happening in Rafah? This question is currently hanging over the conflict in the Middle East. For weeks, Israel has been threatening a major offensive in the city in the southern Gaza Strip, which is home to more than a million internally displaced people. The city was previously considered a safe haven.
This week, however, events came to a head. On Monday it was announced that Hamas had reportedly agreed to a ceasefire presented by mediators. Hamas circles reported that the terrorist organization had received a guarantee that Israel would not carry out any further operations in the Gaza Strip after the ceasefire agreement. Israel denied. The proposal is far from meeting Israeli demands, but talks will continue.
Is the major offensive coming or not?
Shortly afterwards, Israeli tanks rolled towards Rafah, the army took control of the border crossing with Egypt and said it carried out precision strikes. The city is the last remaining bastion of Hamas and, according to Israel, the attacks are necessary to end the terror. As if to prove this, Hamas repeatedly attacked the Kerem Shalom border crossing from Rafah between the Gaza Strip and Israel, through which aid deliveries are sent to the region.
The USA does not see this as the start of a major offensive, but the Israeli government is sending unclear signals: will it start the major offensive or not?
US President Biden threatens Israel
President Joe Biden not only criticizes Israel, he threatens: If Israel attacks Rafah, the USA will restrict arms deliveries. His government will not provide the weapons for a large-scale invasion of Rafah, where hundreds of thousands of civilians are seeking protection. Germany is also sending public appeals to Israel. However, the federal government has not yet commented on restricting the supply of weapons.
“We hope it doesn’t come to that.”
But Israel apparently does not want to be dissuaded from its war course in the Gaza Strip by increasing pressure from its closest ally, the USA. “If we have to stand for ourselves, then we will stand for ourselves,” said Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in a video message.
“As I have said before, we will fight tooth and nail if we have to.” His army spokesman Daniel Hagari said they had enough weapons and ammunition to continue the operation in the city of Rafah.
Israel does not want to extend the call for evacuation
In a US broadcast, however, Netanyahu emphasized the importance of relations with the USA: He hoped that he and Biden could overcome their differences over the war in the Gaza Strip, Netanyahu said in an interview on the program “Dr. Phil Primetime”. “We often had our agreements, but we also had our differences. We were able to overcome them. I hope we can overcome them now too, but we will do what we have to do to protect our country” .
Meanwhile, Israel’s operation in Rafah continues. Since the advance in the eastern part of the city began on Tuesday night, around 50 gunmen have been killed by Israeli troops, the Times of Israel reported. The military confirmed the report. According to army estimates, around 150,000 people have left the eastern part of Rafah. The Times of Israel reported that the army currently has no plans to expand its evacuation call to other areas of Rafah, given the ongoing hostage negotiations.
A sign that a complete offensive on the city is not imminent any time soon. Experts say a full evacuation would take more than two weeks.
