- Nathan Williams & Mark Rowen
- in london and jerusalem
image source, Getty Images
More than 1 million Palestinians have fled to Rafah from other parts of Gaza
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has reaffirmed his determination to launch an offensive in Rafah, ignoring international criticism.
The city is packed with about 1.5 million Palestinians who have sought refuge from other parts of Gaza.
His comments came as the German chancellor, who is on a visit to the Middle East, reiterated his opposition to the plan.
But Prime Minister Netanyahu said, “No amount of international pressure can prevent Israel from achieving all of its war objectives.”
“If we stop the war now before we have achieved all of our goals, it means Israel has lost the war, and we will not allow this to happen,” Netanyahu told a cabinet meeting.
He said Israel must be able to continue the war with the aim of eliminating Hamas, freeing all hostages and ensuring that Gaza “no longer poses a threat.”
“To that end, we will also be active in Rapha.”
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said an attack on the southern city of Gaza was “bound to happen” and would take “a few weeks.”
He also slammed his critics, asking, “Is your memory that short?
“I forgot it right away. [7 October], the worst genocide committed against Jews since the Holocaust. ”
These attacks, which killed around 1,200 Israelis and took more than 250 hostages, triggered the current war.
The Hamas-run Gaza Health Ministry said more than 31,400 people had died.
The Israeli leader met with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz on Sunday.
Scholz told reporters at a joint news conference that he spoke with Netanyahu about the need to provide “comprehensive humanitarian relief supplies” to the people of Gaza. He stressed that conditions for aid distribution “need to be urgently and significantly improved.”
He said the hostage deal for Israelis captured by Hamas on October 7 was necessary in parallel with a long-term ceasefire in Gaza.
The German leader said he had told Israeli leaders that “humanitarian logic” should be considered before a ground offensive in Rafah.
In response, Prime Minister Netanyahu said: ”[Israel’s] The goal of eliminating the remaining terrorist battalions in Rafah is closely related to allowing civilians to leave Rafah. ”
“That’s not what we do while keeping our people in place,” the Israeli leader added.
Israel’s plan has been heavily criticized by the international community, with the United Nations and the United States warning that a full-scale attack on Rafah could have dire consequences.
UN World Health Organization Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus on Friday appealed to Israel not to carry out such attacks on Gaza’s southernmost city “in the name of humanity”.
The United States has said it has not yet seen Israel’s detailed plans for Rafah, and President Joe Biden has warned Israel that escalating its invasion of Rafah is a “red line that must not be crossed.”
Relations between Israel and the United States are becoming increasingly strained.
President Biden is now backing an extraordinary rebuke by Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, who is effectively calling for Netanyahu’s removal.
The Israeli prime minister believes he still has a pro-Israel American lobby behind him.
However, the risk is that as the US presidential election approaches, the Biden administration may decide to appease Americans dissatisfied with its support for Israel and begin to restrict military aid.
Nevertheless, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office on Friday approved plans for a military operation in Rafah, adding that the military was preparing to evacuate civilians.
Removing an estimated 1.4 million Gazans from Rafah will take time and manpower, and the Israeli military is already stretched to its limits fighting and distributing aid.
Doing so would require finding a safe place in the Gaza wilderness and providing food and water, meaning an attack could take some time to begin.
Speaking earlier in Jordan, Scholz spoke of the need for a “longer lasting” ceasefire.
Ceasefire talks were expected to resume in Qatar within days. Israel had planned to send a delegation to take part in the negotiations, but ministers had not yet agreed on the mandate.
Israel faces mounting criticism over civilian casualties in the Gaza Strip and a lack of aid that has fueled fears of starvation.
On Thursday, U.S. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer called on Israel to hold an election to replace Netanyahu.
The prime minister condemned the remarks as “totally inappropriate” and said people should instead work to break the “tyranny of Hamas”.
This is classic Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, hitting back at critics and cutting through mounting pressure at home and abroad.
He becomes more and more involved. He is reprimanded by members of his own government. He became increasingly criticized by the hostages’ families. And he was incensed by the Western Allies, who had exhausted his patience.
The Israeli prime minister, pushed by his more bellicose far-right ministers, seems determined to go ahead with the war, and despite all the criticism here, a traumatized Israel still supports the attack on Gaza. I believe that
Most Israelis still support the offensive to crush Hamas, even as the hostages are taken back.
However, there is also the possibility that Israel is taking a tough stance against Rafah in order to increase pressure on Hamas ahead of new ceasefire talks in Doha, where Israel is sending a delegation.
And he knows that when the war ultimately ends, his political career may also end.
