Netanyahu approved the Israeli military operation in Rafa

‘ The military’s action plans for the attack on Rafa, in the southern part of the Gaza Strip, were approved by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, according to a statement sent to the press today. “The Israeli army is ready for the operational side and for the evacuation of the region from the population,” according to the announcement which gives no other clarification about the long-awaited operation, for which the United States and the UN do not stop warning that it should not be done. Netanyahu has been promising for weeks that he will continue the war until Hamas is exterminated and has repeatedly announced the next attack on Rafas, which is very close to the closed border with Egypt, and where, according to the UN, some one and a half million Palestinians have gathered. Washington for its part repeats its opposition to any attack on Rafa as it endangers civilians who have fled there. “I will continue to reject pressure. We’re going into Rafa. We will complete the elimination of Hamas’ battalions,” Netanyahu reiterated on Thursday in a message on the social networking platform X. The Israeli Prime Minister asked the army last month to present to him a plan to evacuate the area from civilians. The military submitted a plan to the war cabinet in late February, no detail of which has been leaked. American Foreign Minister Anthony Blinken, during a visit to Vienna, said today that “he has not yet seen any plan” from the Israelis, while recalling that the United States is calling for a “clear and applicable plan”. In Ramala, the Presidency of the Palestinian Authority expressed “her deep concern about the forthcoming Israeli military attack on Rafa, which can lead to new massacres and new displacements of the population”, according to the official Palestinian news agency Wafa. “The presidency called for the rapid intervention of the US government and the international community in order to avoid this military attack,” Wafa adds. The announcement of the approval of the army plans for Rafa was made while negotiations on hostages in Gaza are expected to resume after the announcement today of the Israeli delegation mission to Doha, Qatar.