Netanyahu says date for Rafah offensive set

What happened?

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has stated that Israel has set a date for a ground offensive in Gaza’s Rafah, the last Hamas stronghold. [news.sky.com, breitbart.com, chinadaily.com.cn, corriere.it, lemonde.fr, spiegel.de, aftonbladet.se, dagbladet.no]
Netanyahu is determined to achieve “total victory” by eliminating Hamas’ terrorist battalions in Rafah, despite warnings from the United Nations and aid experts about the high civilian toll. [chinadaily.com.cn, corriere.it, dw.com, spiegel.de]
The international community, including the Biden administration, has opposed an invasion of Rafah, arguing that the roughly 1.4 million civilians who have sought shelter there will be in danger. [news.sky.com, breitbart.com, corriere.it, spiegel.de]
After large parts of the Gaza Strip have already become uninhabitable due to Israel’s military operation, an estimated more than one million refugees are stranded in Rafah. [spiegel.de]

What is Arab media saying?

Netanyahu stated that he received a detailed report on the negotiations in Cairo and that Israel is working tirelessly to achieve its goals, including the release of all hostages and a complete victory over Hamas. [aljazeera.net, almasryalyoum.com]
Hamas is studying a Gaza ceasefire deal that would see a six-week truce and Israeli women and child hostages freed in exchange for up to 900 Palestinian prisoners. [ahram.org.eg]
A senior source in the Hamas said that the Israeli position in the prisoner exchange negotiations is still posing obstacles to reaching an agreement. [almasryalyoum.com, aljazeera.net]

What is Israeli media saying?

The U.S. State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller stated that the U.S. was not notified of a date for an attack in Rafah and that Washington does not want to see a large-scale invasion of Rafah. [ynet.co.il]
Netanyahu has said that all Hamas battalions must be defeated to prevent Hamas from regrouping and reestablishing itself to threaten Israel again [jns.org]
Around 64% of Israelis support expanding the military operations against Hamas to Rafah, even if it means a clash with the United States. [jns.org]
Israeli right-wing National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir threatened to leave the government if the IDF did not enter Rafah or if it prematurely ended the war. [jpost.com]

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