Netanyahu sets date to invade Rafah, Israel says

JERUSALEM

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has set a date for invading Rafah city in the southern Gaza Strip, a government spokeswoman said on Thursday.

“Regarding Rafah, the prime minister has set a date and we will enter Rafah,” Raquela Karamson told reporters, without giving an exact date.

“We appreciate any US support in understanding our goals in this war, which are to achieve a complete victory and ensure that Hamas does not pose a threat to our citizens,” she added.

The Israeli army has unveiled plans to invade Rafah, where more than 1.5 million people have taken refuge from Israel’s ongoing war on the Palestinian enclave, despite opposition from several countries, including the US.

Israel has waged a deadly military offensive on the Gaza Strip since an Oct. 7, 2023 cross-border attack by the Palestinian group Hamas in which nearly 1,200 people were killed.

Nearly 34,000 Palestinians, mostly women and children, have since been killed in Gaza, and over 76,800 others injured amid mass destruction and shortages of necessities.

The Israeli war has pushed 85% of Gaza’s population into internal displacement amid acute shortages of food, clean water and medicine, while 60% of the enclave's infrastructure has been damaged or destroyed, according to the UN.

Israel stands accused of genocide at the International Court of Justice. An interim ruling in January ordered Tel Aviv to stop genocidal acts and take measures to guarantee that humanitarian assistance is provided to civilians in Gaza.

*Writing by Ahmed Asmar