Israeli premier says not attacking Rafah means losing war in Gaza

By Anadolu staff

JERUSALEM (AA) – The Israeli prime minister on Thursday vowed to keep ahead with plans to attack Rafah, the last area in the southern Gaza Strip that was not yet attacked from the ground, stressing that not doing so means Israel's defeat against the Hamas group.

"Whoever tells us not to operate in Rafah is telling us to lose the war and that will not happen," Benjamin Netanyahu said at a cadet ceremony of the Israeli army, according to the public broadcaster KAN.

While promising to minimize civilian casualties in Gaza, he reiterated his allegations that Hamas uses civilians as human shields as part of its tactics in confronting the Israeli army.

Hamas denies such allegations, accusing Israel of using Palestinians as human shields in its attacks against Palestinian areas.

Netanyahu also said that the Israeli army "will continue to act against Hamas in all corners of Gaza, including in Rafah, Hamas’s last stronghold."

He noted that he is facing international pressure not to attack Rafah, but stressed that Israel will withstand these pressures and keep the war on Gaza going until full victory against Hamas.

Tel Aviv plans a ground offensive in Rafah, where 1.4 million people have taken refuge, despite international warnings and calls to avoid any such attack.

Israel has launched a retaliatory offensive on the Gaza Strip since Oct. 7, killing at least 30,800 people and injuring nearly 73,000 others amid mass destruction and shortages of necessities.

Israel has also imposed a crippling blockade on the Palestinian enclave, leaving its population, particularly residents of northern Gaza, on the verge of starvation.

About 85% of Gazans have been displaced by the Israeli onslaught amid acute shortages of 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, which in an interim ruling in January ordered Tel Aviv to stop genocidal acts and take measures to guarantee that humanitarian assistance is provided to civilians in Gaza.

*Writing by Ahmed Asmar