Invasion of Rafah has to be done, says Netanyahu

Any ceasefire in Israel’s war against Hamas terrorists would not stop a ground invasion of Gaza’s southern city of Rafah, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahi says.

A child standing inside a damaged building, stares at the al-Faruq mosque, levelled by Israeli bombardment in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip on Sunday. Picture: AFP

Any ceasefire in Israel’s war against Hamas terrorists would not stop a ground invasion of Gaza’s southern city Rafah that has sheltered more than half of the territory’s population, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahi says.

The military operation into Rafah would put Israel within weeks of “total victory” over Hamas, whose October 7 attack triggered the war.

“If we have a deal, it will be ­delayed somewhat, but it will happen,” Mr Netanyahu said of the looming ground invasion feared to bring more mass civilian casualties in Rafah, where about 1.4 million Palestinians – most of them displaced – have converged on Gaza’s southern border with Egypt.

“If we don’t have a deal, we’ll do it anyway. It has to be done ­because total victory is our goal and total victory is within reach – not months away, weeks away, once we begin the operation.”

Defence Minister Yoav Gallant backed up Mr Netanyahu’s comments, saying there would also be no let-up in Israeli action against Lebanon’s Hezbollah movement, even if a ceasefire and hostage deal was secured in Gaza.

People walk near buildings levelled by Israeli bombardment in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip on Sunday. Picture: AFP

Mr Gallant visited the military’s northern command in Safed, which was hit earlier this month by a militant rocket strike from southern Lebanon, killing a soldier.

“If anyone thinks that when we reach a deal to release hostages in the south and the firing stops it will ease what is happening here they are wrong,” he said in a video message.

Israel’s aim was to ensure the Iran-backed militants did not pose a threat from border areas in southern Lebanon.

If a diplomatic solution to the situation was not possible, “we will do it by force”, Mr Gallant warned.

The US said on Sunday that ongoing ­mediation efforts produced “an understanding” towards a ceasefire and hostage ­release after Egyptian, Qatari and US experts met in Doha for talks also attended by Israeli and Hamas representatives in the latest effort to secure a truce before the ­Muslim holy month of Ramadan.

The Doha talks follow a weekend meeting in Paris, without Hamas, where representatives “came to an understanding among the four of them about what the basic contours of a hostage deal for temporary ceasefire would look like”, White House National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan told CNN.

Children play in one of the fallen domes of the al-Faruq mosque, levelled by Israeli bombardment in Rafah at the weekend. Picture: AFP)

Mediators have voiced hope a deal can be reached before the start of Ramadan around March 10.

Jordan’s King Abdullah II met Palestinian President Mahmud Abbas and warned of the continuation of the war on Gaza during Ramadan, “which will increase the threat of expanding the conflict”.

Media reports suggest the warring parties are weighing a six-week halt to fighting and the initial exchange of dozens of female, underage and ill hostages for several hundred Palestinian detainees.

Hamas has also insisted on a full withdrawal of Israeli ­forces from Gaza, which Mr Netanyahu has dismissed as ­“delusional”.

More than four months into the war, desperate families in the north of the besieged Gaza Strip have been forced to scavenge for food as fighting and looting have stopped humanitarian deliveries.

Security forces and protesters clash during an anti-government demonstration in Tel Aviv at the weekend. Picture: Getty Images

Hundreds headed south whichever way they could, walking down garbage-strewn roads between the blackened shells of bombed-out buildings.

“I came on foot from north Gaza,” said Samir Abd Rabbo, 27, who arrived with his one-year-old daughter at the Nuseirat camp in central Gaza. Without milk, he said, he had tried to feed his daughter bread made from animal feed, which she was unable to digest.

In northern Gaza’s Jabalia, displaced man Marwan Awadieh said the area “has become completely uninhabitable” and food was desperately scarce. “Even the animal fodder that we had resorted to is now unavailable,” he said, and wild herbs have “now been depleted, people have gathered it all”.

Israeli forces continued striking targets across the Palestinian territory and battling Hamas militants in heavy urban combat centred on the southern city of Khan Yunis, near Rafah.

The Israeli military announced about “200 terror suspects” had been detained at Nasser Hospital in Khan Yunis, saying that in recent days its forces had “concluded” an operation around southern Gaza’s main medical centre.

AFP