Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu mentioned Sunday that Israeli forces would push into the southern Gaza Strip metropolis of Rafah whatever the end result of talks to pause the preventing that seem to have been making some progress in latest days.
“It needs to be carried out,” the Israeli prime minister mentioned. “As a result of complete victory is our aim, and complete victory is inside attain.”
Mr. Netanyahu did say that if a cease-fire deal was reached, the transfer into Rafah, which throughout 20 weeks of warfare has served as a final refuge for lots of of hundreds of Gazan households pressured from their houses, can be “delayed considerably.”
The push towards Rafah has drawn warnings from Israel’s closest ally, the US, due to the potential for mass civilian casualties past the almost 30,000 Gazans who’ve already been reported killed within the warfare, greater than half of whom are girls and kids.
Mr. Netanyahu, talking on the CBS Information program “Face the Nation,” mentioned Sunday that he believed that Israel can be “weeks away” from complete victory as soon as the Rafah operation started.
Israeli officers have mentioned that the battle for Rafah might happen throughout the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, which is predicted to start throughout the second week of March. Ramadan has been a essential second for tensions between Israelis and Palestinians through the years.
Jordan’s international minister, Ayman Safadi, warned in a press briefing on Sunday of “catastrophic” penalties if preventing continued in Gaza throughout Ramadan. Al Jazeera quoted him as saying it “will place the complete area on the threat of an explosion.”
The Israeli authorities has come underneath intense criticism from neighbors and allies alike for the breadth of dying and destruction in Gaza because it has prosecuted its warfare in opposition to Hamas in retaliation for the militant-led Oct. 7 assaults which killed a reported 1,200 individuals in Israel. Mr. Netanyahu mentioned Sunday that the Israeli army had defied predictions and warnings from the “better of buddies” on the outset of the warfare, an obvious reference to U.S. officers.
“They mentioned you can’t combat, you’ll be able to’t enter Gaza Metropolis, you’ll be able to’t go into the tunnels, it is going to be a horrible blood bathtub,” Mr. Netanyahu mentioned. “All of that turned out to be not true.”
Mr. Netanyahu’s feedback appeared to underline the yawning gulf between how the warfare is being perceived inside Israel, the place the primary concern is the discharge of Israeli hostages and the defeat of Hamas, and far of the remainder of the world, the place there’s anger and despair over the humanitarian disaster in Gaza.
Mr. Netanyahu mentioned that “this warfare has been pressured upon” Israel and that Hamas “not solely targets civilians however hides behind civilians.” Israel has additionally mentioned it’s taking steps to permit displaced civilians in Rafah to maneuver to safer locations.
However on Sunday, President Biden’s nationwide safety adviser, Jake Sullivan, once more urged warning. “We’ve been clear that we don’t imagine that an operation, a serious army operation, ought to proceed in Rafah except there’s a clear and executable plan to guard civilians, to get them to security and to feed, dress and home them — and we’ve not seen a plan like that,” he mentioned on NBC’s “Meet the Press.”
Mr. Netanyahu’s feedback got here as an Israeli delegation ready to depart for Qatar for intensive talks with mediators geared toward closing the gaps round a brand new deal for a short lived cease-fire with Hamas and the discharge of some hostages held in Gaza. As Israeli official conversant in the discussions mentioned the Israeli delegation might arrive in Qatar, which has been serving to mediate the talks, as quickly as Monday.
The negotiations will come on the heels of talks held on Friday in Paris, the place Israel’s delegation agreed to a fundamental define for a deal that may contain a six-week truce and the trade of about 40 hostages for Palestinian prisoners held by Israel, in keeping with two Israeli officers and a regional diplomat who all requested anonymity due to the fragile nature of the talks.
Hamas representatives didn’t attend the Paris assembly, and it was not instantly clear how acceptable the define was to the group.
One important sticking level in negotiations has been Hamas’s insistence, no less than publicly, on a whole cessation of hostilities as a situation for any hostage deal, in addition to the discharge of hundreds of Palestinian prisoners, together with lots of convicted of lethal assaults in opposition to Israelis.
Taher al-Nunu, a spokesman for Hamas’s political wing, mentioned the group was adamant that any truce should embody a long-term finish to Israel’s marketing campaign in Gaza. “We can’t discuss any ‘momentary truce’ or ‘momentary calm’ which doesn’t assure these factors,” Mr. al-Nunu mentioned in a tv interview on Saturday night time with Al Jazeera.
Israel’s warfare cupboard on Saturday night time accredited the broad phrases for a possible settlement primarily based on the discussions in Paris, one of many Israeli officers mentioned, clearing the way in which for a delegation to go to Qatar. The aim, the 2 Israeli officers mentioned, was to succeed in a deal earlier than the beginning of Ramadan.
Reporting was contributed by Aaron Boxerman, Ronen Bergman, Vivian Yee and Anushka Patil.
