Despite opposition, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has vowed to invade Rafah, where more than 1.4 million displaced Palestinians are sheltering.
Israel is reportedly looking into alternatives to its planned invasion of the southern Gazan town of Rafah.
The Anadolu news agency reported that Israeli Army radio said “Security services are examining alternatives to a large-scale operation in Rafah, if this operation does not take place.”
Despite opposition, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has vowed to invade Rafah, where more than 1.4 million displaced Palestinians are sheltering.
“The Israeli security services insist on launching an operation at the Philadelphi Corridor (on the border between Gaza and Egypt) to cut off Hamas’ smuggling routes,” the radio reportedly said.
Anadolu reported that the broadcaster, citing Israeli sources, said Tel Aviv will be prepared to positively consider a complete withdrawal from the Netzarim axis in central Gaza as part of a ceasefire deal that includes a prisoner swap.
Named after the Netzarim settlement, dismantled in Gaza in 2005, the Israeli army built the seven-kilometer-long corridor to separate northern Gaza from its southern part.
‘With or Without Deal’
Despite the current negotiations for a possible ceasefire deal, Netanyahu said on Tuesday the Israeli army would enter Rafah “with or without a deal.”
“The idea that we stop the war before achieving all its goals is out of the question. We will enter Rafah and eliminate the Hamas battalions there – with or without a deal, in order to achieve complete victory,” he stated.
Top UN officials, including Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, have issued warnings over Israel’s planned Rafah invasion.
“A military assault on Rafah would be an unbearable escalation, killing thousands more civilians & forcing hundreds of thousands to flee, Guterres said on X on Tuesday.
“It would have a devastating impact on Palestinians in Gaza, with serious repercussions on the occupied West Bank & across the wider region,” he added.
Israel has already carried out airstrikes on the town, killing at least 14 Palestinians in one of the attacks on April 20.
Over 34,500 Killed
Currently on trial before the International Court of Justice for genocide against Palestinians, Israel has been waging a devastating war on Gaza since October 7.
According to Gaza’s Ministry of Health, 34,568 Palestinians have been killed, and 77,765 wounded in Israel’s ongoing genocide in Gaza starting on October 7.
Moreover, at least 7,000 people are unaccounted for, presumed dead under the rubble of their homes throughout the Strip.
Palestinian and international organizations say that the majority of those killed and wounded are women and children.
The Israeli war has resulted in an acute famine, mostly in northern Gaza, resulting in the death of many Palestinians, mostly children.
The Israeli aggression has also resulted in the forceful displacement of nearly two million people from all over the Gaza Strip, with the vast majority of the displaced forced into the densely crowded southern city of Rafah near the border with Egypt – in what has become Palestine’s largest mass exodus since the 1948 Nakba.
Israel says that 1,200 soldiers and civilians were killed during the Al-Aqsa Flood Operation on October 7. Israeli media published reports suggesting that many Israelis were killed on that day by ‘friendly fire’.
(PC, Anadolu)
