Jerusalem, Apr 30 (EFE).- Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Tuesday that the Israeli army will enter Rafah to eliminate the four Hamas battalions allegedly left in the southern Gaza Strip, irrespective of a ceasefire.
“We will enter Rafah and we will eliminate the Hamas battalions there – with or without a deal, in order to achieve the total victory,” Netanyahu said during a meeting with the families of the hostages and victims of the Oct. 7 attack.
The prime minister’s statement came as Hamas considered the latest proposal by the mediators in Cairo, which contemplates a 40-day ceasefire and the release of thousands of Palestinian prisoners in exchange for hostages in Gaza, according to Israeli media.
“The idea that we will halt the war before achieving all of its goals is out of the question,” said Netanyahu, alluding to the three goals repeated in these almost seven months of war – secure the release of the hostages, wipe out Hamas’ military force and stop Gaza from being a “threat” to Israel.
International organizations and much of the international community, including the United States, have warned that an offensive against Rafah would be an even greater humanitarian catastrophe than what the Palestinians have already been suffering in the enclave, without sufficient food or potable water and a devastated sanitation system.
Some 1.4 million Gazans reside in Rafah, most of them displaced due to the ongoing war, in which more than 34,500 people have died in the 207 days of the offensive.
Several right-wing ministers in the Israeli government have suggested they could withdraw their support for Netanyahu’s coalition if he does not give the green light for an operation in Rafah, for which the Israeli army is believed to have drawn up a plan as early as the end of February. EFE
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