Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Monday that a date had been set for an offensive on the town of Rafah, which Israel says is one of the last Hamas strongholds in the Gaza Strip.
Victory over the Palestinian Islamist movement “requires entry into Rafah and the elimination of the terrorist battalions there. It will happen — there is a date,” the Israeli prime minister said in a video statement.
The Israeli Defense Minister judged Monday “the opportune moment” to conclude a truce with the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas in Gaza in exchange for the release of the hostages kidnapped during the October 7 attack.
“There will be difficult decisions, we must be prepared to pay the price to bring the hostages back before going back into battle. We are at the right time” to do so, Yoav Gallant declared in front of recruits.
New indirect negotiations are underway between Israel and Hamas, whose officials met on Sunday in Cairo with mediators from Egypt, the United States and Qatar.
The pro-government Egyptian media outlet Al-Qahera News, citing a highly placed Egyptian source, reported “significant progress”, but sources from both belligerents declared themselves significantly more cautious on Monday.
According to Yoav Gallant, Israel placed itself “in a strong position” to negotiate after six months of shelling the Gaza Strip and destroying a large part of Hamas’s arsenal and forces.
“The operational conditions that the Israeli army has created by putting incessant pressure on Hamas and the strong position we find ourselves in after this campaign offer us flexibility and freedom of action,” he assured.
For its part, the White House believes that “now it is up to Hamas to achieve” a ceasefire. “By the end of the weekend, a proposal was submitted to Hamas,” according to National Security Council spokesman John Kirby.
Israeli Minister Yoav Gallant also warned on Sunday that if the Israeli army has just withdrawn its active troops from the south of the Gaza Strip and the Khan Younes region where it claims to have fulfilled its military objectives, it is preparing to launch an offensive on the town of Rafah, on the border with Egypt, where more than 1.5 million Gazans have found refuge.
The war was launched on October 7, when Hamas commandos infiltrated from the Gaza Strip carried out an unprecedented attack in southern Israel, resulting in the deaths of 1,170 people, mostly civilians, according to a report established by AFP based on official Israeli figures.
More than 250 people have been kidnapped and 129 remain detained in Gaza, including 34 who have died, according to Israeli officials.
In retaliation, Israel vowed to destroy Hamas and launched an offensive that has so far killed 33,207 people, most of them civilians, according to Hamas’ health ministry.