Israel Sets a Deadline of Ramadan for the Rafah Attack and Promises to “Finish the Job” in Gaza
Image Source: Times of India
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has promised to “finish the job” in Gaza as a member of his War Cabinet has set a deadline of one month from Ramadan for a potential assault of Rafah in the event that the remaining Israeli prisoners are not released.
As a member of his War Cabinet threatened to invade the southern city of Rafah if the remaining Israeli hostages were not freed by the upcoming Muslim holy month of Ramadan, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu dismissed growing calls on Sunday (local time) to halt the military offensive in Gaza and vowed to “finish the job.”
Over half of the 2.3 million Palestinian enclave residents have sought sanctuary in Rafah; the Israeli administration has not publicly addressed a schedule for a ground invasion. As one of Netanyahu’s three War Cabinet members and a retired general, Benny Gantz is a powerful but not final voice on potential future developments.
Gantz warned a gathering of Jewish American leaders that “the fighting will continue in the Rafah area if by Ramadan our hostages are not home.” Anticipated to commence on March 10, Ramadan is known to be a sensitive period in the area.
Netanyahu has referred to demands made by Hamas, the terrorist organization that rules Gaza, as “delusional” as the ceasefire talks continue to stall despite recent hints of improvement.
The US, Israel’s main ally, says it still expects to mediate a ceasefire and an agreement for the release of hostages. It also sees a wider settlement to the conflict that was started by Hamas’ fatal strike in southern Israel on October 7.
In addition, the US has threatened to veto a new UN resolution that calls for a ceasefire, and its envoy to the UN has cautioned against taking any actions that may endanger “the opportunity for an enduring resolution of hostilities.”
However, Netanyahu is against Palestinian statehood, which the US regards as a crucial component of a larger plan for Israel and Saudi Arabia to normalize relations. Israel “categorically rejects international edicts on a permanent arrangement with the Palestinians,” according to a statement agreed by his Cabinet on Sunday. It also opposes any unilateral establishment of a Palestinian state.
An independent state for the Palestinians as a component of a future peace deal has the overwhelming support of the international community. There are several hardliners in Netanyahu’s government who are against Palestinian independence.
Netanyahu desires that Israel defeat Hamas “totally.” He has said that Palestinian civilians will be evacuated in response to international concerns of an onslaught by Rafah. It’s unclear where they will move in the mostly destroyed Gaza.
The chief of the World Health Organization (WHO) stated that Nasser Hospital, the primary medical facility in southern Gaza, “was not functional anymore” following an Israeli military strike on the facility in Khan Younis last week, coinciding with the proposed time of the offensive.
Medics and witnesses report that Israeli strikes in Gaza continued overnight into Sunday, killing at least 18 people. An attack in Khan Younis, the primary focus of the southern Gaza offensive in recent weeks, killed five people, while another in Rafah killed six, including a lady and three children. The bodies were seen by the Associated Press journalists.
“Everyone who was killed was someone the Jews requested be relocated to safe areas,” Ahmad Abu Rezeq, a bystander, remarked during the Rafah attack.
Three ladies and seven other individuals were killed, including an air attack that destroyed a home in Gaza City, which was severely damaged early in the war, according to a relative named Sayed al-Afifi.
The Israeli military rarely provides commentary on specific strikes and attributes civilian deaths to Hamas due to the terrorist organization’s operations in populated areas.
RAIDED HOSPITAL NO LONGER FUNCTIONS, SAYS UN
On Friday and Saturday, a WHO team was not permitted entry into Nasser Hospital, according to WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus. He stated approximately 200 patients are left, 20 of whom require immediate referrals to another facility, in a post on X.
At least 200 terrorists turned themselves in at the hospital, according to Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant. In addition, he asserted that Hamas was essentially leaderless in Gaza and that the group had been routed in Khan Younis. He provided no proof to back up his statements.
According to the Gaza Health Ministry, 150 people were left without medical attention after 70 medical professionals and patients were detained. It claimed that Israel blocked the evacuation of patients, including infants, to other medical facilities.
The military declared that it did not target physicians or patients and that it was searching Nasser Hospital for the remains of hostages.
About 1,200 people, primarily civilians, were killed and about 250 were taken captive during the raid on October 7. Approximately 130 hostages are still being held by terrorists; 4 of them are thought to be dead. In November, during a week-long ceasefire, the majority of the others were freed.
The Health Ministry, which does not differentiate between combatants and civilians, reports that at least 28,985 Palestinians have died in the conflict, the majority of them were women and children. It stated on Sunday that 127 bodies had been transported to hospitals the previous day.
Almost 25% of Gaza’s population is starving, and nearly 80% of the population has been forced to flee their homes. According to Wael Abu Omar, a spokeswoman for the Palestinian Crossings Authority, four trucks carrying cooking gas entered through the Rafah crossing with Egypt on Sunday, while 123 assistance vehicles entered Gaza through Israel’s Kerem Shalom border crossing. That is far fewer than the 500 trucks that entered each day before the war.
When Israeli forces attempted to apprehend an armed suspect in the town of Tulkarem, they were met by gunfire in the occupied West Bank. According to the military, the suspect was killed, and a paramilitary Border Police officer in Israel suffered serious injuries. A prominent terrorist was identified as the raid’s target. Two Palestinians were killed, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry.
There is a chance that the Gaza War will lead to more regional violence. According to the US Central Command, on February 17, it carried out five self-defense strikes against drones and cruise missiles in a region of Yemen under the control of the Houthi rebel organization, which is supported by Iran.
US OPPOSES A NEW CEASE-FIRE RESOLUTION
A draft resolution opposing the forcible expulsion of Palestinians and calling for an immediate humanitarian truce and unrestricted humanitarian access to Gaza has been distributed by Algeria, the Arab representative on the UN Security Council.
The plan “will not be adopted,” according to US Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield, and it contradicts Washington’s efforts to put an end to the violence. Previous resolutions with broad international backing were vetoed by the US.
Despite weeks of efforts by the US, Qatar, and Egypt to mediate a truce and captive release, Qatar announced on February 17 that the negotiations “have not been progressing as expected.”
According to Hamas, unless Israel ends the conflict and leaves Gaza, it will not release all of the captives that are still held there. It also calls for Israel to liberate hundreds of Palestinian prisoners, including prominent terrorists.
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