Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said a date has been set for the Israeli military’s invasion of Rafah, arguging that the invasion of the southern city is essential for victory.
“Today I received a detailed report on the talks in Cairo, we are constantly working to achieve our goals, first and foremost the release of all our hostages and achieving a complete victory over Hamas,” Netanyahu said in a video message posted to X, formerly Twitter.
“This victory requires entry into Rafah and the elimination of the terrorist battalions there. It will happen, there is a date,” he continued.
Netanyahu has said for weeks Israeli forces were expected to eventually invade Rafah despite repeated warnings against doing so from President Biden and other White House officials.
There are around 1.4 million civilians estimated to be seeking refuge in Rafah after following direction from Israel to leave their homes in northern Gaza. Israel ordered the evacuations earlier this year to allow its forces to seek Hamas militants for the killing of 1,200 people on Oct. 7 and the capture of hundreds of hostages.
Netanyahu last week said Israel plans to enter Rahah with or without U.S. support.
His announcement comes as Israel faces increased pressure from Washington and other Western leaders over its military operations in Gaza, which have so far killed 33,200 Palestinians, according to the Associated Press.
An Israeli airstrike last week killed six workers with the World Central Kitchen and their Palestinian driver as they were leaving a warehouse in central Gaza. The group has just delivered about 100 tons of food aid and was driving in armored cars labeled with World Central Kitchen logos when the strike hit.
Biden issued his sharpest criticism of Netanyahu after the attack, warning U.S. policy on the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza would now be determined by “immediate” steps Israel needs to take to reduce an “unacceptable” humanitarian situation. The conversation marked a notable change from Biden and his team since the war broke out last October.
Far-right ministers Itamar Ben Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich criticized Netanayahu over the Israel Defense Forces (IDF)’s scaling back of troops from Gaza, The Jerusalem Post reported.
Ben-Gvir, Israel’s National Security Minister, said if Netanyahu ends Israel’s war with Hamas without an attack on Hamas in Rafah, he will “cease to have a mandate to serve as prime minister,” per the Jerusalem Post.
Smotrich, in a letter Monday, reportedly called on Netanyahu to convence Israel’s National Security Cabinet, which has the power to make policy decisions over the war.
“The only forum that is authorized to make decisive decisions during wartime is the broad [National Security] cabinet, but unfortunately this is not how things have worked and we see decisions being made by the small [war] cabinet without approval and without updating the broad cabinet, under international pressures that harm the war’s momentum and our security interests,” he said, per the Jerusalem Post.
Biden last week also urged the Israeli leader toward a ceasefire deal that would see the release of the remaining hostages in Gaza and a pause in fighting in the war-torn enclave, the White House said.
Talks on a cease-fire deal were progressing in Cairo, Egypt on Monday and both parties have agreed on the basic points, Reuters reported, citing Egypt’s Al-Qahera News state-affiliated TV channel.