Israel set on launching Rafah assault in Gaza, Netanyahu tells Blinken

By Abdelraouf Arnaout

JERUSALEM (AA) — Notwithstanding the worldwide protest, Israel remains determined to carry out a military operation on the city of Rafah in southern Gaza, the country's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu affirmed Friday to US Secretary of State Antony Blinken.

"I greatly appreciate the fact that for more than five months we have been standing together in the war against Hamas," Netanyahu said in recorded speech released by his office after Blinken arrived in Israel on Friday from Egypt.

Netanyahu said that during his meeting in Tel Aviv with Blinken, who is on the third leg of a fresh Middle East tour, he asserted that the only way to defeat Palestinian group Hamas was through a military. assault on Rafah, which is currently home to nearly 1.4 million displaced Palestinians.

"I also told him (Blinken) that we recognize the need to evacuate the civilian population from the war zones and, of course, also take care of the humanitarian needs and we are working to that end," he added.

Netanyahu said he also underlined that Israel would welcome US support for its operation in Rafah, but that "if we have to, we will do it alone."

Despite the global outcry over the catastrophic situation in the Palestinian enclave, the Israeli premier has long expressed his intention to attack Rafah, the southernmost town in Gaza and one of the last significant communities spared from a ground invasion in the enclave.

Israel has waged a deadly military offensive on the Gaza Strip since an Oct. 7 cross-border attack led by Hamas in which some 1,200 Israelis were killed.

Nearly 32,000 Palestinians, mostly women and children, have since been killed in Gaza, and more than 74,000 injured amid mass destruction and shortages of necessities.

The Israeli war has pushed 85% of Gaza’s population into internal displacement amid a crippling blockade of most food, clean water, and medicine, while 60% of the enclave's infrastructure has been damaged or destroyed, according to the UN.

Israel stands accused of genocide at the International Court of Justice. An interim ruling in January ordered Tel Aviv to ensure its forces do not commit acts of genocide, and guarantee that humanitarian assistance is provided to civilians in Gaza.

*Writing by Mohammad Sio in Istanbul