Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Monday that a date has been set for an Israeli invasion of Rafah, Gaza’s last refuge for displaced Palestinians, without disclosing that date as a new round of ceasefire talks take place in Cairo.
‘Today I received a detailed report on the talks in Cairo, we are constantly working to achieve our goals, first and foremost the release of all our hostages and achieving a complete victory over Hamas,’ Netanyahu said.
‘This victory requires entry into Rafah and the elimination of the terrorist battalions there. It will happen – there is a date.’
The shock announcement came hours after reports suggested Hamas and Israel were just two days away from agreeing a ceasefire and hostage deal that would have put at least a temporary end to the bloodiest war in the Middle East in decades.
Hamas and Israel sent negotiators to Cairo, Egypt, where they were joined by mediators from the United States, Egypt and Qatar.
‘This victory requires entry into Rafah and the elimination of the terrorist battalions there. It will happen – there is a date’, Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu (pictured) said today
Palestinian families return to their houses left amid rubble and devastating destruction after Israeli forces’ withdrawal from Khan Younis
Demonstrators light a fire at Kaplan Street in Tel Aviv
Israeli soldiers organise their tanks equipment near the border with the Gaza Strip
Egyptian state-linked news outlet Al-Qahera reported ‘significant progress being made on several contentious points of agreement’, citing an unnamed high-ranking Egyptian source.
The outlet said Qatari and Hamas delegations had left Cairo and were expected to return ‘within two days to finalise the terms of the agreement’.
US and Israeli delegations were also due to leave the Egyptian capital ‘in the next few hours’ for consultations over the next 48 hours, it added.
But negotiations have been shaky throughout the six-month war in Gaza, with both Hamas and Israel pulling out of talks over disagreements several times.
Israel’s allies, including the US and the UK, have expressed opposition to Israel’s stated plans to invade Rafah, home to 1.4 million civilians seeking refugee from the bloody war against the enclave.
Reports suggested Hamas and Israel were just two days away from agreeing a ceasefire and hostage deal that would have put at least a temporary end to the bloodiest war in the Middle East in decades
Israel’s top ally, the US, has said invading Rafah would be a mistake and has demanded to see a credible plan to protect civilians
Palestinians walk through the destruction in the wake of an Israeli air and ground offensive in Khan Younis
Foreign Secretary Lord David Cameron previously wrote on X: ‘Deeply concerned about the prospect of a military offensive in Rafah – over half of Gaza’s population are sheltering in the area.
‘The priority must be an immediate pause in the fighting to get aid in and hostages out, then progress towards a sustainable, permanent ceasefire.’
Israel’s top ally, the US, has said invading Rafah would be a mistake and has demanded to see a credible plan to protect civilians.
Israel is purchasing 40,000 tents to prepare for the evacuation of Rafah, an Israel official said, speaking on condition of anonymity because they were not authorised to speak to the media.
A woman cries on rubble of a collapsed building after Israeli forces’ withdrawal from Khan Younis, Gaza
Israel pulled its ground forces out of the southern Gaza Strip, six months into the devastating war sparked by the October 7 attacks
A person holds a handful of spent bullet casings above a bigger pile in Khan Younis on April 7, 2024
Netanyahu’s announcement came as streams of Palestinians filed into the southern Gaza city of Khan Younis on Monday to salvage what they could from the vast destruction left in the wake of Israel’s offensive, a day after the Israeli military announced it was withdrawing troops from the area.
Allowing people to return to Khan Younis could relieve some pressure on Rafah, but many have no homes to return to. The city also is likely filled with dangerous unexploded ordnance left by the fighting.
Israel’s military quietly drew down troops in devastated northern Gaza earlier in the war.
But it has continued to carry out airstrikes and raids in areas where it says Hamas regrouped, including Gaza’s largest hospital, Shifa, leaving what the head of the World Health Organisation called ‘an empty shell’.
Israel blames Hamas for the damage, saying it fights from within civilian areas.