Gaza war: Israel vows to ‘intensify’ operations in Rafah
- Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has vowed to launch a full-scale ground operation in Rafah in a bid to dismantle the remaining battalions of Hamas
- Israeli forces took control earlier in May of the Gaza side of the Rafah crossing with Egypt, in a push launched in defiance of US warnings
Israel vowed on Thursday to “intensify” its ground offensive in Rafah, in defiance of global warnings over the fate of hundreds of thousands of Palestinian civilians sheltering in Gaza’s far-southern city.
Defence Minister Yoav Gallant said “additional forces will enter” the Rafah area and “this activity will intensify”.
“Hundreds of targets have already been struck, and our forces are manoeuvring in the area,” Gallant said following a troop visit on Wednesday.
Israel’s top ally, the United States, has joined other major powers in appealing for it to hold back from a full ground offensive against Hamas in Rafah, the last city in Gaza so far spared heavy urban fighting.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has countered that a ground assault on Rafah is vital to the army’s mission of destroying Hamas to prevent any repetition of the October 7 attack that triggered the war.
Speaking on Wednesday, the premier said nearly half a million Palestinian civilians had already been evacuated from Rafah and argued that a much-feared humanitarian disaster had not materialised.
