Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Tuesday vowed to extend Israel’s callous military campaign into Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip.
The statement came at a time when there is rising international pressure against Israel entering Rafah, the bordering city close to Egypt, where 1.5 million displaced Palestinians are sheltered.
“We will finish the job in Rafah while enabling the civilian population to get out of harm’s way,” Netanyahu said addressimg the pro-Israel AIPAC organization in Washington D.C. through video conferencing.
The European Council had earlier urged the Israeli government in a draft of recommendations to “refrain from a ground operation in Rafah, where well over a million Palestinians are currently seeking safety from the fighting and access to humanitarian assistance,” according to Reuters.
Rafah, earlier described as a “safe zone”, is the last refuge for the Palestinians in Gaza who have nowhere to go to. Hence, it is assumed that a full-fledged ground invasion in the city would mean another heinous genocide resulting in the death of hundreds.
According to Gaza’s Ministry of Health, 31,184 Palestinians have been killed, and 72,889 wounded in Israel’s ongoing genocide in Gaza starting on October 7.
