Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s planned offensive on the southern Gaza Strip city of Rafah will go ahead whether or not a hostage agreement is made with Palestinian Islamist group Hamas, he told a meeting on Tuesday.
“We will enter Rafah and we will eliminate the Hamas battalions there – with or without a deal,” he told relatives of Israeli hostages and fallen soldiers, according to his office.
Netanyahu is determined to launch an offensive in Rafah to eliminate the remaining strongholds of Hamas, though Israel’s allies have repeatedly urged caution, as a large majority of the approximately 2.2 million inhabitants of the Gaza Strip have fled to the south during the war.
“The idea that we will halt the war before achieving all of its goals is out of the question. 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, as he faces calls at home to achieve his war objectives despite pressure from abroad.
His comments come as indirect negotiations are held in Cairo over a new ceasefire agreement and the release of further hostages in return for Palestinian prisoners. There were initial hopes that Israel would refrain from the planned Rafah operation if a deal can be made.
People in Rafah are terrified and expect to be evacuated at any moment ahead of a planned incursion, according to a non-governmental organization active in the area.
“Our colleagues are telling us there is extraordinarily deep anxiety,” said Philippe Lazzarini, the head of the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) in the Gaza Strip.
The Israeli military has not yet instructed people to leave, but people expect this at any moment, he said, adding that much depends on the ceasefire talks and release of hostages.
In Jerusalem, a suspected Turkish citizen was shot dead after stabbing an Israeli border policeman in the Old City on Tuesday. The policeman was injured, Israeli police said after the incident.
The man entered the country from Jordan as a tourist on Monday, according to ynet news site. An Israeli Foreign Ministry spokesman said the report was being investigated.
