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War in Gaza: imminent response from Hamas on the truce, Benjamin Netanyahu wants to enter Rafah
War in Gaza: imminent response from Hamas on the truce, Benjamin Netanyahu wants to enter Rafah
(franceinfo)
Hamas will respond “very shortly” on a new ceasefire proposal. On site for the seventh time, Antony Blinken is trying to get Benjamin Netanyahu to give up his offensive against Rafah.
Israeli army tanks are mobilized near the border with the Gaza Strip, Wednesday May 1. While Hamas must give its response to a ceasefire proposal, Israel continues to prepare its offensive on Rafah. “We will destroy Hamas battalions there, we will achieve all our objectives”declared Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
“An intolerable escalation” for the UN
This ground assault is widely contested by the United States. Traveling to Jerusalem, American Secretary of State Antony Blinken hopes to convince Benjamin Netanyahu to abandon the offensive and says he “determined to achieve a ceasefire”. The city of Rafah is considered the last stronghold of Hamas. It is here that 1.5 million Palestinians, the majority displaced, are crowded together.
Antonio Guterres, the Secretary General of the UN, is sounding the alarm, saying that a military assault on Rafah would constitute “an intolerable escalation”. With or without a truce, Benjamin Netanyahu for his part assured that his army would enter the city.
