JERUSALEM 

Israel is looking into alternatives to its planned invasion of Rafah city at the southern tip of the Gaza Strip, local media said on Thursday.

“Security services are examining alternatives to a large-scale operation in Rafah, if this operation does not take place,” Army Radio said.

Despite growing international opposition, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has vowed to invade Rafah, home to more than 1.4 million displaced Palestinians.

Rafah is the last remaining area in the Gaza Strip where Israel has not yet formally announced the entry of its troops to continue the onslaught against Palestinians.

“The Israeli security services insist on launching an operation at the Philadelphi Corridor (on the border between Gaza and Egypt) to cut off Hamas’ smuggling routes,” the radio said.

The broadcaster, citing Israeli sources, said Tel Aviv will be prepared to positively consider a complete withdrawal from the Netzarim axis in central Gaza as part of a cease-fire deal that includes a prisoner swap.

Named after the Netzarim settlement, dismantled in Gaza in 2005, the Israeli army built the seven-kilometer-long corridor to separate northern Gaza from its southern part.

Hamas, which is believed to be holding more than 130 Israeli hostages, demands an end to Israel’s ongoing offensive on Gaza in return for any hostage deal with Tel Aviv.

Israel has waged an unrelenting offensive on the Palestinian enclave since a cross-border attack by Hamas last Oct. 7 which killed some 1,200 people.

Nearly 34,600 Palestinians have since been killed, mostly women and children, and 77,800 others injured amid mass destruction and severe shortages of necessities.

More than six months into the Israeli war, vast swathes of Gaza lay in ruins, pushing 85% of the enclave’s population into internal displacement amid a crippling blockade of food, clean water and medicine, according to the UN.

Israel is accused of genocide at the International Court of Justice. An interim ruling in January ordered Tel Aviv to stop genocidal acts and take measures to guarantee that humanitarian assistance is provided to civilians in Gaza.

*Writing by Ahmed Asmar