Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Sunday that Israeli forces would advance toward the southern Gaza Strip city of Rafah regardless of the outcome of talks to stop the fighting that appear to have made some progress in recent days.
“It must be done,” said the Israeli prime minister. “Because our goal is total victory and total victory is within our reach.”
Netanyahu said that if a ceasefire agreement was reached, the transfer to Rafah, which during 20 weeks of war has served as a last refuge for hundreds of thousands of Gaza families forced to flee their homes, would be “somewhat delayed.” “
The advance toward Rafah has drawn warnings from Israel’s closest ally, the United States, due to the potential for massive civilian casualties beyond the nearly 30,000 Gazans already reported dead in the war, more than half of whom They are women and children.
Netanyahu, speaking on the CBS News program “Face the Nation,” said Sunday that he believed Israel would be “weeks” away from complete victory once the Rafah operation began.
Israeli officials have said the battle for Rafah could take place during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, which is expected to begin during the second week of March. Ramadan has been a critical time of tensions between Israelis and Palestinians over the years.
Jordanian Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi warned in a press conference on Sunday of “catastrophic” consequences if fighting continued in Gaza during Ramadan. Al Jazeera quoted him as saying it will “put the entire region at risk of an explosion.”
The Israeli government has come under intense criticism from neighbors and allies alike over the scale of death and destruction in Gaza as it pursues its war against Hamas in retaliation for the October 7 militant-led attacks that killed about 1,200 people. In Israel. Netanyahu said on Sunday that the Israeli military had defied predictions and warnings from “best friends” at the start of the war, in an apparent reference to US officials.
“They said you can’t fight, you can’t enter Gaza City, you can’t enter the tunnels, it will be a terrible bloodbath,” Netanyahu said. “It turned out that all of that wasn’t true.”
Netanyahu’s comments appeared to underscore the yawning chasm between how the war is perceived within Israel, where the main concern is the release of Israeli hostages and the defeat of Hamas, and much of the rest of the world, where there is anger and despair over the humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza.
Netanyahu said that “this war has been imposed” on Israel and that Hamas “not only attacks civilians but hides behind them.” Israel has also said it is taking steps to allow displaced civilians in Rafah to move to safer locations.
But on Sunday, President Biden’s national security adviser, Jake Sullivan, again urged caution. “We have made it clear that we do not believe that an operation, a major military operation, should be carried out in Rafah unless there is a clear and executable plan to protect civilians, get them to safety and feed, clothe and house them. and we haven’t seen a plan like that,” he said on NBC’s “Meet the Press.”
Netanyahu’s comments came as an Israeli delegation prepared to leave for Qatar for intensive talks with mediators aimed at closing gaps over a new deal for a temporary ceasefire with Hamas and the release of some hostages held in Gaza. . As an Israeli official familiar with the discussions said, the Israeli delegation could arrive in Qatar, which has been helping mediate the talks, as soon as Monday.
The negotiations will come on the heels of talks on Friday in Paris, where Israel’s delegation agreed to a basic outline for a deal that would involve a six-week truce and the exchange of about 40 hostages for Palestinian prisoners held by Israel, according to two Israeli officials and a regional diplomat who requested anonymity due to the sensitive nature of the talks.
Hamas representatives did not attend the Paris meeting and it was not immediately clear how acceptable the scheme was to the group.
One of the main sticking points in the negotiations has been Hamas’s insistence, at least publicly, on a complete cessation of hostilities as a condition of any hostage deal, as well as the release of thousands of Palestinian prisoners, including hundreds of those convicted of deadly attacks against Israelis.
Taher al-Nunu, spokesman for Hamas’s political wing, said the group insisted that any truce must include a long-term end to Israel’s campaign in Gaza. “We cannot talk about any ‘temporary truce’ or ‘temporary calm’ that does not guarantee these points,” al-Nunu said in a television interview Saturday night with Al Jazeera.
Israel’s war cabinet on Saturday night approved general terms for a possible deal based on discussions in Paris, one of the Israeli officials said, clearing the way for a delegation to head to Qatar. The goal, the two Israeli officials said, was to reach an agreement before the start of Ramadan.
The report was contributed by Aaron Boxerman, Ronen Bergman, Vivian Yee and Anushka Patil.