'There is a date': PM Netanyahu says Israel will invade Rafah, will achieve total victory over Hamas

Israel will invade Rafah in its ongoing war against Hamas in the Gaza Strip and has set a date for the operation, said Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday.

Defying US and international pressure over the Rafah invasion’s potential human toll, Netanyahu said a military operation in Rafah is a must to achieve the war’s twin objectives of freeing all hostages and defeating Hamas completely.

Netanyahu’s statement comes at a time when intense and keenly-watched negotiations for a deal freeing hostages and securing a ceasefire in Gaza are taking place in Cairo. The proposal on the table reportedly includes a six-week ceasefire in Gaza in lieu of the release of 40 hostages held by Hamas and allied groups in Gaza.

In the all-out attack on Israel on October 7, 2023, Hamas and fellow terrorist groups adducted around 250 Israeli and foreign nationals and took them to Gaza as hostages. While several of them have been released so far, around 100 are still understood to be in captivity in Gaza.

While Netanyahu has said Israel will invade Rafah, the United States has maintained that it is opposed to the move. More than 1 million Palestinians have taken shelter in Rafah, which is the only remaining part of the Palestinian enclave untouched by the war that has devasted Gaza over the past six months. It is feared that a military action there would worsen the already-fragile humanitarian situation.

‘We need to enter Rafah to meet all of war’s objectives’

In a video statement in Hebrew, Netanyahu on Monday said that Israel needs to enter Rafah to secure a complete victory in the war against Hamas.

Netanyahu also said the first priority of the Israel’s war is to secure the release of all the hostages.

“We are working constantly to achieve all our objectives: first and foremost, the release of all of our hostages and achieving total victory over Hamas. The victory requires entering Rafah and eliminating the terrorist battalions there. This will happen. There is a date,” said Netanyahu.

Netanyahu’s declaration of Rafah’s invasion follows threats from the far-right members of his ruling coalition that his government would fall if there is no invasion of Rafah. Netanyahu’s far-right minister Itamar Ben Gvir, who holds the national security portfolio, said earlier on Monday that Netanyahu will “cease to have a mandate to serve as prime minister” in case he concludes the war without an operation in Rafah.

Full-scale invasion of Rafah will be enormously harmful: US

Following Netanyahu’s statement, the US Department of State said it is still opposed to the invasion of Rafah. It said that a full-scale military invasion of Rafah will “have an enormously harmful effect on those civilians and that it would ultimately hurt Israel’s security”.

“It’s not just a question of Israel presenting a plan to us. We have made clear to them that we think that there is a better way to achieve what is a legitimate goal, which is to degrade and dismantle and defeat the Hamas battalions that still remain in Rafah,” said State Department Spokesperson Mathew Miller, as per AFP.

While Miller praised the recent Israeli decision to expand the delivery of aid to Gaza by opening of new routes after President Joe Biden’s call with Netanyahu, he maintained that much more needed to be done.

“Many Palestinians in Gaza are at risk of famine, and every single man, woman and child in Gaza is experiencing food insecurity. We expect Israel to fully implement its commitments quickly, and we will be monitoring that implementation. Ultimately it is the results that matter and we will be judging them on those results,” said Miller.