Israel says committed to expanding ground operation in Rafah

JERUSALEM

Israel plans to expand its ground offensive in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip, Defense Minister Yoav Gallant told US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan on Monday.

“Expanding the operation there is a component of Israel’s efforts to dismantle Hamas and bring back the hostages,” Gallant said during a meeting with Sullivan in Tel Aviv as cited by The Times of Israel newspaper.

Gallant presented the US adviser “the latest on the evacuation of civilians from the Rafah area and the provision of humanitarian assistance.”

The Israeli army launched a ground offensive on May 6 in Rafah, home to 1.5 million displaced Palestinians, with the UN Agency for Palestinian Refugees (UNRWA) estimating more than 800,000 people have fled the city since the start of the Israeli attack.

“Every time families are displaced; their lives are at serious risk. People are forced to leave everything behind looking for safety. But there's no safe zone,” the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) said on Monday.

Separately, Sullivan met with Israeli opposition leader Yair Lapid, who has called for ousting Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government and holding early elections.

“I told him (Sullivan) that we should not give up on the efforts to return the abductees. This is the most important and most urgent task,” Lapid said on X.

The opposition accuses Netanyahu of failing to achieve the declared objectives of the Gaza war, particularly the elimination of Hamas and the return of Israeli hostages held by Hamas.

Sullivan arrived in Israel on Sunday after Saudi Arabia and met with top officials, including Netanyahu, to discuss the Gaza war, particularly Rafah, and increasing the flow of humanitarian aid into Gaza, Netanyahu’s office said in a statement.

Israel continued its brutal offensive on the Gaza Strip despite a UN Security Council resolution demanding an immediate cease-fire in the enclave.

More than 35,400 Palestinians have since been killed, the vast majority of whom have been women and children, and over 79,500 others injured since last October following a Hamas attack.

More than seven months into the Israeli war, vast swathes of Gaza lay in ruins amid a crippling blockade of food, clean water, and medicine.

Israel is accused of “genocide” at the International Court of Justice, which has ordered Tel Aviv to ensure its forces do not commit acts of genocide and take measures to guarantee that humanitarian assistance is provided to civilians in Gaza.

*Writing by Mohammad Sio