News
Netanyahu Says Israel Will Invade Rafah ‘With Or Without Deal’ With Hamas
Rafah is home to more than 1.4M displaced Palestinians
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed Tuesday to invade Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip despite reports of a possible cease-fire deal with Hamas.
“The idea that we will stop the war before achieving all its objectives is out of the question,” Netanyahu said during a meeting with families of Israeli soldiers, as quoted in a statement from his office.
He said the Israeli army would enter Rafah to destroy Hamas’ battalions there “with or without a deal.”
Netanyahu said the evacuation of civilians from Rafah has begun.
“We have begun the evacuation of the population in Rafah. We will be there soon,” he added.
Home to more than 1.4 million displaced Palestinians, Rafah is the last remaining area in the Gaza Strip where Israel has not yet formally announced the entry of its troops to continue the onslaught against Palestinians.
Netanyahu’s statements came amid reports of a new cease-fire proposal being discussed by Hamas and Israel to end the conflict in the Gaza Strip.
The new proposal includes Israel’s willingness to discuss the “restoration of sustainable calm” in Gaza after an initial release of hostages on humanitarian grounds, two Israeli officials told news website Axios.
Hamas is expected to deliver its response to the truce proposal later this week.
Israel has waged an unrelenting offensive on the Palestinian enclave since a cross-border attack by Hamas last Oct. 7 which killed some 1,200 people.
More than 34,500 Palestinians have since been killed, mostly women and children, and thousands of others injured amid mass destruction and severe shortages of necessities.
More than six months into the Israeli war, vast swathes of Gaza lay in ruins, pushing 85% of the enclave’s population into internal displacement amid a crippling blockade of food, clean water, and medicine, 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.
Kenya Insights allows guest blogging, if you want to be published on Kenya’s most authoritative and accurate blog, have an expose, news TIPS, story angles, human interest stories, drop us an email on [email protected] or via Telegram
-
Business2 weeks agoPoison at the Pump: How Kenya’s Fuel Marking System May Be Exposing Millions to Cancer-Causing Chemicals
-
Investigations2 weeks agoTHE ZAKHEM-ECOBANK MACHINE: How Kenya’s Courts Were Weaponised to Drain a State Corporation of Over KES 78 Billion
-
Investigations1 week agoThe Teflon Company: How Gulf Energy’s Insiders Built Billions on Kenya’s Fuel, and Walked Away Clean
-
Investigations1 week agoInside Details Of Sh78 Billion Fraud in KPC’s Mombasa-Nairobi Line 5 Pipeline Project That Has Continued To Bleed The Country
-
News1 week agoMombasa Lawyer Exposed In Sh600 Million Alleged Double-Dealing Diani Property Transaction
-
Business1 week agoWattanga Fired Over Incompetence in Tech, Insiders Say
-
Investigations2 weeks agoWho Architected the Ksh 4.8 Billion Fuel Scandal? Two CSs Now Caught in the Storm
-
News1 week agoThe Lawyer at the Centre of Kenya’s State Machine: Eric Gumbo, the AG’s Bypassed Office, and the Half-Billion-Shilling Question
