Rafah offensive ‘imminent’, Israel’s defense minister says

JERUSALEM

Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said Sunday that a planned ground attack on Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip is “imminent.”

“We are observing worrying signs that Hamas does not intend to reach an agreement with us," Gallant told army troops in central Gaza’s Netzarim Corridor.

"This means the operation in Rafah is imminent."

Despite growing international opposition, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has vowed to invade Rafah, home to more than 1.4 million displaced Palestinians, to defeat what he calls the “remaining Hamas battalions.”

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.

Early Sunday, Netanyahu rejected calls to end the Gaza offensive in return for a hostage swap deal with Hamas, claiming that ending the war now would keep the Palestinian group in power.

“We have clear goals for this war: we are committed to the elimination of Hamas and the release of the hostages. We have given [negotiations] a certain period of time… with a specified delay in operational action,” Gallant said.

On Sunday, Hamas chief Ismail Haniyeh accused Netanyahu of undermining efforts to reach a cease-fire deal in the Gaza Strip.

“Hamas is still keen on reaching an agreement that ends the aggression, guarantees Israeli troop withdrawal, and achieves a serious prisoner exchange deal,” Haniyeh said in a statement.

Hamas, which is believed to be holding more than 130 Israeli hostages, held talks in Egypt on Saturday for a Gaza cease-fire and hostage swap with Israel.

Egypt’s state-run Al-Qahera News channel, citing a high-level Egyptian source, reported “positive progress” on Sunday in talks for a cease-fire in Gaza.

Hamas demands an end to Israel’s ongoing offensive on Gaza in return for any hostage deal with Tel Aviv.

Israel has pounded the Gaza Strip in retaliation for a cross-border attack led by Hamas, which killed about 1,200 people. Nearly 34,700 Palestinians have since been killed in Gaza, the vast majority of whom have been women and children, and 78,000 others injured, according to Palestinian health authorities.

Nearly seven 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 stands accused of genocide at the International Court of Justice. An interim ruling in January said it is "plausible" that Israel is committing genocide in Gaza, and ordered Tel Aviv to stop such acts and take measures to guarantee that humanitarian assistance is provided to civilians in Gaza.

*Writing by Rania Abu Shamala