Israel sees an offensive in Rafah as the only way to destroy Hamas. Although more than half of the refugees have fled again, the USA has concerns. The news at a glance.
Israel wants to expand military operations in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip despite resistance from its allies. Israel is determined to expand the ground offensive to crush the Islamist terrorist organization Hamas and free the hostages, Israeli Defense Minister Joav Galant said in a meeting with US President Joe Biden’s security adviser Jake Sullivan, according to Israeli radio Tel Aviv.
Sullivan had previously made it clear during talks in Israel that the US continued to reject a large-scale offensive in Rafah. Sullivan spoke with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and President Izchak Herzog in Jerusalem. The White House said Sullivan was sympathetic to Israel’s efforts to find Hamas leaders in the Gaza Strip.
The USA wants to ensure supplies for the population in Gaza
In Rafah, Israel’s leadership wants to destroy the last Hamas battalions believed to be there. Allies such as the United States have repeatedly warned Israel against a large-scale attack on the city on the border with Egypt because of the large number of refugees. According to UN estimates, around 800,000 refugees have already left the city since the operation began around two weeks ago.
The White House said Sullivan had informed Israel about talks with Egypt to secure the Rafah border and ensure the continued flow of humanitarian aid through the Kerem Shalom border crossing.
Kerem Shalom has become a bottleneck for aid to Gaza since the Rafah crossing was closed after Israeli forces took control of the border crossing on the Palestinian side earlier this month. Hamas had recently repeatedly attacked Kerem Shalom and increasingly Israeli towns with rockets.
According to media reports, Egypt has indicated that it will not coordinate the movement of aid through Rafah until Israeli troops withdraw. Discussions are underway to reopen the border crossing.
After meeting Sullivan, Netanyahu wrote on According to the White House, this also involved establishing permanent corridors within Gaza to ensure that aid reaches civilians in need. Since Friday, aid supplies have also been coming to Gaza via the sea via a floating jetty set up by the USA.
Biden’s security advisor calls for political strategy
According to the White House, Sullivan once again called on the Israeli government to link its military operations in the Gaza Strip to a political strategy. This is the only way to ensure a lasting defeat of Hamas, the release of all Israeli hostages and a better future for the Gaza Strip.
Galant had previously called on his own government to create a political alternative to Hamas in the Gaza Strip. Otherwise, the only options left were a continuation of Hamas rule or Israeli military rule.
Benny Gantz, minister in the Israeli war cabinet, even threatened to leave the Netanyahu-led government on Saturday evening. If the head of government does not present a plan for the post-war order in the Gaza Strip by June 8, he and other members of his National Union party would leave the cabinet, he said.
Violent attacks and fighting continue in the Gaza Strip
Israeli attacks and fighting in the Gaza Strip continued. At least 24 Palestinians were killed in an attack in the refugee district of Nuseirat in the central Gaza Strip on Sunday, according to the Hamas-controlled health authority.
The army confirmed that a senior Hamas police member had been killed in a targeted attack the previous day. Another attack in Nuseirat on Saturday killed another Hamas commander and five activists. In addition, several smuggling tunnels on the border between the Gaza Strip and Egypt were discovered and destroyed. Israel assumes that Hamas was able to become so militarily strong by smuggling weapons across the Egyptian border.
The war was triggered by the unprecedented massacre with more than 1,200 deaths that terrorists from Hamas and other groups carried out in Israel on October 7th. According to the health authority, 35,456 Palestinians have been killed in the ensuing war so far, although the number, which can hardly be verified independently, does not distinguish between civilians and fighters.
New protests against the Netanyahu government
Netanyahu is also coming under increasing pressure from growing street protests against his policies. Nationwide protests broke out again on Monday at the start of Parliament’s new session. A convoy of vehicles drove from the north of the country towards Jerusalem, where a large rally was planned in front of the Knesset. The police were put on heightened alert. The protest movement is demanding Netanyahu’s resignation and new elections.
Hundreds say goodbye to German-Israeli
Two days after her body was recovered in the Gaza Strip, hundreds of people in Israel attended the funeral of German-Israeli Shani Louk on Sunday. The 22-year-old was murdered in the terrorist attack on October 7th. Her body was taken to the Gaza Strip. On Friday night, the Israeli military was able to rescue the bodies of Shani Louk and three other hostages from an underground tunnel in the Gaza Strip in a special operation.