Israeli Minister Benny Gantz, a member of Benjamin Netanyahu’s war cabinet, warned on Sunday that Israel would launch an offensive against the city of Rafah if Israeli hostages held in Gaza were not released by Ramadan.
“The world must know and Hamas leaders must know: if by Ramadan, the hostages are not at home, the fighting will continue everywhere, including in the Rafah region,” said the former head of Hamas. the Israeli army.
“To those who say the price is too high, I say clearly: Hamas has a choice. They can surrender, free the hostages and the civilians of Gaza will thus be able to celebrate the holiday of Ramadan,” he added in a speech to the Conference of Presidents of the Main American Jewish Organizations, meeting in Jerusalem.
Ramadan, the holy month of Muslims, begins around March 10.
Despite calls from part of the international community, Benjamin Netanyahu’s government is determined to launch an offensive against the city of Rafah, backed by Egypt’s closed border, where 1.4 million people are crowded together. . Most of the displaced people live there in very harsh conditions.
Benny Gantz affirmed that an offensive would be carried out, in a coordinated manner and within the framework of a dialogue with the Americans and Egyptians, “by facilitating the evacuation of civilians” to minimize “as much as possible” the number of victims in their ranks. .
Rafah and the town of Khan Younes, located in the south of the Gaza Strip and a few kilometers apart, as well as other areas of the Palestinian territory, were the target of Israeli bombardments which left 127 dead in 24 hours, a the Hamas Ministry of Health said on Sunday.
Since the deadly October 7 attack launched by Hamas against Israeli territory, Israel has vowed to annihilate the Islamist movement, in power in Gaza since 2007.