Israel is “moving forward” with an attack on Hamas in Rafah, its only city Gaza Strip which has yet to be attacked by ground in the six-month-old war, and will work to ensure Palestinians there are not harmed, a government spokesman said today.
A senior defense official told Reuters today that the Israeli army has made all the necessary preparations to capture Rafah and can begin the operation once it receives government approval.
The population of Rafah, which is near the border with Egypt, has been joined by more than a million Palestinians who fled other parts of the Gaza Strip during the more than six-month war in the Palestinian enclave.
Their fate is causing concern among Western powers and Cairo, which has ruled out any influx of refugees into Egypt’s Sinai.
Israel, which is under pressure due to the humanitarian impact of the war, has pledged to take measures to ensure the safety of Rafah’s civilians.
The Netanyahu government says there are four intact Hamas battalions in Rafah, which it says have been reinforced by thousands of fighters from the Islamist movement withdrawn from elsewhere.
Source: RES-MPE
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