The Israeli army will launch a ground offensive on Rafah regardless of the success of truce talks, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu pledged on Tuesday as he spoke to bereaved families and relatives of hostages opposed to the Hamas agreement, Israeli media reported.
While Israel awaits a response to its latest truce offer, it will not send a delegation to Cairo to release the hostages and negotiate a ceasefire, an Israeli official told The Times of Israel newspaper. The Hamas delegation left Cairo with a promise to return with a written response to the offer from Jerusalem. Netanyahu told the hawkish Gvura and Tikva forums, which represent families of some slain soldiers and some of the families of hostages held in Gaza, respectively:
The idea that we will stop the war before achieving all its aims is not an option. We will enter Rafah and we will eliminate the Hamas battalions there — whether or not there is a deal — in order to achieve total victory.
According to a statement released by the Prime Minister’s Office, the groups urged Netanyahu and National Security Adviser Tzachi Hanegbi to continue the war and resist international pressure to bring it to an end.
The meeting came before Netanyahu was due to speak with National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir, who also opposes ending the war and making concessions to Hamas. Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, who has threatened to quit the coalition if such an agreement is signed, skipped Tuesday’s cabinet meeting to talk to his Religious Zionism faction amid the controversy.
Israel, whose latest offer reportedly includes a 40-day pause in hostilities and the release of nearly 1,000 Palestinian prisoners in exchange for Israeli hostages, is believed to be making “dramatic” concessions, including reducing the number of hostages it wants released in the first phase of the deal.
While Israel expects the specific terms of a potential hostage release agreement to change in the coming days if Hamas shows interest in making a deal, one of the terms being discussed is a 10-week pause in hostilities in exchange for 33 live hostages, another Israeli official told The Times of Israel on Tuesday.
The number refers to hostages in the so-called humanitarian category – women, children, men over 50 and the sick. The official added:
Israel has gone above and beyond in showing flexibility to reach a deal.
Israel is also open to the possibility of Gaza residents moving back to the north of the Strip without undergoing Israeli security checks. According to the official, one possibility being considered is that Egypt would be in charge of the security checks, although the matter has not been finalised.
Jewish media reported that the invasion of Rafah would begin in the next 48 to 72 hours if no agreement is reached on the release of the hostages. IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi approved final plans for military action in Rafah on Monday, according to the Ynet news site.
According to the report, which has not been confirmed by sources, IDF tanks are lined up on the Gaza border and ready to give the green light to launch the offensive, which is seen by Israel as the final push needed to push Hamas fighting forces out of the Gaza Strip despite warnings of a humanitarian disaster if civilians are not pulled out of harm’s way. Tactical plans have been finalised in the past few days, Ynet reported, and include a phased invasion that could be halted or delayed if progress is made in hostage negotiations.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Monday urged Hamas to quickly accept Israel’s latest and “extremely generous” Gaza truce offer to secure the release of hostages, after the Palestinian group’s top official said it had no “serious problems” with the latest proposal.
