Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has approved military plans for operations in the southern Gaza city of Rafah, his office said on Friday.
Israeli forces have held off on full-fledged operations in Rafah, which they said is the last Hamas stronghold in Gaza, due to the more than 1 million Palestinians who are seeking refuge in Rafah following Israel’s orders for them to evacuate south earlier in the war.
“The IDF is preparing for the operational side and for the evacuation of the population,” the prime minister’s office said, noting that Netanyahu “approved the plans for action in Rafah.”
The United States is among several governments and international organizations that have warned of catastrophic civilian casualties if Israel does not appropriately account for civilians’ safety before starting large-scale operations. Israeli leaders counter that they cannot complete their war efforts, to demilitarize Hamas and remove it from power in Gaza, without completing their north-to-south sweep of the strip in Rafah.
Many details of the Israelis’ plans remain unknown, including when the evacuations and military operations will commence.
Earlier this week, Israel Defense Forces spokesman Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari said they intend to move Palestinian civilians to “humanitarian enclaves.”
“1.4 million people will move to humanitarian enclaves that we will create with the international community,” he said. “They will provide them with temporary housing, food, water, field hospitals.”
President Joe Biden said last week that a full-scale operation into Rafah would be a red line for him.
Secretary of State Antony Blinken, Biden’s top diplomat, said on Wednesday that it is possible the Israelis could come up with a plan they would support but that the Israelis haven’t shared one with the U.S.
“Yes, it’s possible, but we haven’t seen it,” Blinken told reporters on Wednesday at the State Department. “But, right now, that’s all in the realm of hypotheticals because we haven’t seen a plan. So we look to that.”
CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER
Israel’s military has held off on an attack on Rafah in recent weeks, in part to allow for the negotiations to secure the release of hostages held by Hamas in exchange for a roughly six-week ceasefire and a surge of humanitarian aid. The U.S. has maintained that the offer is on the table for Hamas to accept, but a deal has not come to fruition.
Egypt is among the countries attempting to mediate a ceasefire deal. Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi said on Friday that “we hope to reach a ceasefire in Gaza in the next few days, at most, and hope no negative developments will make the situation worse than it already is.”
