Israel will invade Rafah with or without hostage deal – Netanyahu

The prime minister directly contradicted his own foreign minister, who promised to suspend the operation if Hamas released its captives

Israel will send troops into the city of Rafah regardless of whether it reaches a ceasefire and hostage release deal with Hamas, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Tuesday. Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz previously promised to cancel the controversial operation in exchange for the captives.

“The idea that we will stop the war before achieving all of its goals is out of the question,” Netanyahu said in a statement from his office. “We will enter Rafah and we will eliminate Hamas’ battalions there — with or without a deal, to achieve total victory.”

Situated at Gaza’s southern border with Egypt, Rafah is currently home to an estimated 1.4 million Palestinians who have fled the northern reaches of the strip. Since October, Israel has carried out regular airstrikes in Rafah against what it claims are Hamas targets, and Netanyahu has threatened for months to launch a ground invasion of the city, despite objections from the US and UN.

However, Katz told Israel’s Channel 12 on Saturday that Israel would “suspend the operation” if Hamas agreed to release some of the roughly 130 Israeli hostages still in its captivity in Gaza.

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