Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced on Tuesday that the planned offensive in Rafah, in the southern Gaza Strip, will take place regardless of whether an agreement is reached with the Palestinian group “Hamas” on the release of the hostages.
We will enter Rafah and we will destroy the Hamas battalions there – with or without an agreement,” Netanyahu said during a meeting with relatives of the hostages.
Israel launched a war against the Palestinian terrorist group Hamas in the Gaza Strip after the terrorists carried out a massacre in Israel on October 7, killing 1,200 people and taking 250 hostages.
Netanyahu has vowed to launch a military operation in Rafah to wipe out Hamas forces there, but Israel’s allies have repeatedly called on Israel to refrain from such a move as many of the Gaza Strip’s roughly 2.2 million residents have fled south.
“The idea that we will stop the war before we have achieved all of its goals is out of the question. We will enter Rafah and eliminate the Hamas battalions there, with or without an agreement, to achieve total victory,” Netanyahu said.
Indirect negotiations are currently underway in Cairo for a possible ceasefire and the release of hostages in exchange for Palestinian terrorists imprisoned in Israel. Initially, it was hoped that Israel would refrain from invading Rafah if a deal was reached in the talks.
It has already been reported that talks between Egypt, Qatar and Hamas took place in Cairo on Monday.
The USA, Egypt and Qatar have been acting as mediators between Hamas and Israel for several months in an effort to stop the war in the Gaza Strip and release the hostages taken in Israel on October 7.
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