Netanyahu repeats Rafah assault threat, says civilians won’t be ‘locked in’ | Israel War on Gaza News

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says Israel won’t depart civilians trapped in Rafah when its forces start a long-feared assault on the southern Gaza metropolis the place greater than 1,000,000 Palestinians have taken shelter.

“Our purpose in eliminating the remaining terrorist battalions in Rafah goes hand in hand with enabling the civilian inhabitants to depart Rafah. It’s not one thing we are going to do whereas protecting the inhabitants locked in place. Actually, we’ll do the very reverse, we are going to allow them to depart,” Netanyahu mentioned throughout a press assertion in Jerusalem with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz.

The German chief mentioned an Israeli assault on Rafah – the place a majority of Gaza’s 2.3 million individuals have sought refuge from relentless Israeli bombardment – would make regional peace “very tough”.

Netanyahu’s assertion got here hours after he informed a cupboard assembly that Israeli troops would pursue the deliberate floor offensive in Rafah regardless of fears of mass civilian casualties.

“No quantity of worldwide stress will cease us from realising all of the objectives of the warfare: eliminating Hamas, releasing all our hostages and guaranteeing that Gaza will now not pose a menace towards Israel,” Netanyahu mentioned in a video launched by his workplace. “To do that, we will even function in Rafah.”

Netanyahu’s feedback got here as talks were expected to resume in Qatar in direction of a truce in Gaza, the place Israel has pursued a army marketing campaign towards Hamas for greater than 5 months.

‘Risk looming within the horizon’

Al Jazeera’s Tareq Abu Azzoum, reporting from Rafah, mentioned the Palestinians are “intently following” Netanyahu repeatedly saying he plans to invade “this very densely populated space”.

“From the Palestinian perspective, beneath such menace looming within the horizon, they’re utterly feeling unsafe, questioning concerning the subsequent vacation spot,” he mentioned.

US President Joe Biden, whose continued help for Israel’s warfare regardless of widespread allegations of genocide, has mentioned an Israeli invasion of Rafah would be a “red line” with out credible civilian safety plans in place.

On Friday, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken mentioned Washington wished a “clear and implementable plan” for Rafah to make sure civilians are “out of hurt’s method”.

World Well being Group chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus additionally on Friday appealed to Israel “within the identify of humanity” to not launch an assault on Rafah – the final main inhabitants centre in Gaza but to face a floor assault within the warfare triggered by Hamas’s unprecedented October 7 assault in southern Israel.

The assault resulted within the deaths of about 1,160 individuals, principally civilians, as Hamas took about 250 Israeli and international hostages. Israel believes about 130 of these stay in Gaza, together with 32 presumed lifeless.

Since October 7, Israel’s military campaign has killed at the least 31,645 Palestinians in Gaza, principally girls and youngsters, in line with Gaza’s well being ministry, and displaced practically 2 million of its residents.

Elections would ‘paralyse’ Israel

Netanyahu mentioned any Gaza peace deal that weakens Israel and leaves it unable to defend itself towards hostile neighbours can be unacceptable.

A possible peace settlement “that makes Israel so weak and unable to defend itself” would “set peace backwards and never ahead”, he mentioned throughout his joint press look with Scholz.

Netanyahu additionally criticised “these within the worldwide group who’re making an attempt to cease the warfare now” by “making false accusations” towards Israel and its army.

Israel has confronted constant criticism for civilian casualties in Gaza in addition to stark assist shortages which have fueled fears of famine.

On Thursday, US Senate chief Chuck Schumer called for Israel to hold new elections, sparking indignant pushback from Netanyahu’s Likud Occasion, which mentioned Israel “will not be a banana republic”.

Netanyahu mentioned new elections would “cease the warfare and paralyse the nation for at the least six months”.

“If we cease the warfare now, earlier than all of its objectives are achieved, it signifies that Israel has misplaced the warfare, and we won’t permit that.”

In the meantime, there was no let-up within the preventing, and at the least 92 individuals had been killed over the earlier 24 hours, Gaza’s well being ministry mentioned on Sunday. The lifeless included 12 members of the identical household whose home was hit in Deir el-Balah, central Gaza.

Palestinian lady Leen Thabit, retrieving a white costume from beneath the rubble of her household’s flattened home, cried as she mentioned her cousin was killed within the strike.

“She’s lifeless. Solely her costume is left,” Thabit mentioned. “What do they need from us?”