The Israeli army is ready to enter Rafah “very soon”. The city on the border with Egypt is the last bastion of Hamas in the Gaza Strip. The preparations are almost complete. The operation will be launched as soon as Tsahal receives government approval. The Palestinians will have to evacuate to tents set up by international humanitarian organizations. According to the plan, the operation will proceed in phases. In each of these, the IDF will inform the local population before advancing into each area so that civilians can leave. “We will not be able to complete the mission without entering Rafah, which could also help relieve pressure on the hostage issue,” an Israeli official said.
But the assault on an urban area where one and a half million displaced people are crowded also entails political and diplomatic risks. The Chief of Staff of the Jewish State, Herzi Halevi, and the head of the Shin Bet, Ronen Bar, went to Cairo to discuss the imminent operation with the number one of the Egyptian intelligence Abbas Kamel and the Chief of Staff Osama Askar. . Close coordination with Egypt is one of the fundamental conditions for the start of military action, especially in light of Israel’s intention to take control of the “Philadelphia Axis”, a corridor along the border between the Strip and the ‘Egypt. The Egyptians are concerned that the operation could lead to an influx of tens of thousands of Palestinians into their territory and endanger their security. Senior officials in Cairo have made it clear that such a scenario would lead to a breakdown in relations with the Jewish state and could endanger the peace agreement between the two countries.
Hamas, to put pressure on in this already incandescent atmosphere, published a video of the Israeli-American hostage Hersh Goldberg-Polin kidnapped during the attack on the “Supernova festival” on October 7th, with one arm amputated. In the video, the date of which is not known, the 23-year-old denounces the negligence of Benjamin Netanyahu’s government towards the hostages: “You should be ashamed because you abandoned us.” However, a senior Hamas official interviewed by the London-based newspaper Al-Arabi Al-Jadid, owned by a Qatari company, revealed that the organization offered to release 40 Israeli abductees in the first phase of the agreement and not 20 as it had reported Israel. Prime Minister Netanyahu yesterday also denounced the situation on American campuses where, according to him, the anti-Semitism is reminiscent of that of Germany in the 1930s.
The other major supporter of Hamas, Iran, also then had its say. For Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei “the sanctions of Western countries aim to put pressure on Tehran to ensure that the country follows their colonial and arrogant policies”. Iran and Pakistan have asked the UN to take action against Israel for its “atrocities against the Palestinian people”. On this point, the EU also called for “an independent investigation into the mass graves” discovered in Gaza City and Khan Yunis. Added to this concern is that of the FAO.
The organization has denounced that Gaza is experiencing the most serious food crisis in history.
