Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said this week that there is a date set for an attack on the last major stronghold of the Hamas terrorist organization in Rafah. The prime minister’s statement came amid extensive pressure from the Biden administration against an Israeli attack on the Gaza Strip city.
The prime minister said this weekend that his country was preparing for a “complete victory” over the terrorist group.
He said that the final win “requires entry into Rafah and the elimination of the terrorist battalions there.”
“It will happen, there is a date,” he said.
Israel has been involved in U.S.-mediated ceasefire talks in the Egyptian capital of Cairo. However, the likelihood of such a stop in the fighting appears unlikely.
Israel showed a willingness to accept a potential ceasefire in the conflict, but it was rejected by Hamas. The terrorist group stated that it could no longer release many of the hostages taken in the Oct. 7, 2023, terrorist attack because many of them are now dead.
Israel was seeking the release of some of the hostages following a partial release in a previous ceasefire. The country was seeking the release of women, children and the elderly.
Hamas Negotiators have reportedly told International Meditators in Cairo that it has No Ability to Release the 40 Hostages in the Humanitarian Category (Women, Children, and Elderly) that were included in yesterday’s Ceasefire Proposal because out of the 136 Hostages that remain…
— OSINTdefender (@sentdefender) April 8, 2024
The terrorist group took 240 hostages during the attack, with some confirmed dead, several rescued and some released during the November ceasefire.
Five of the remaining hostages are believed to be American.
President Joe Biden has been pushing Netanyahu toward a potential ceasefire, calling an attack on Rafah a “red line.”
The president backed away from some of his comments, but last week told Netanyahu that there should be a ceasefire and criticized the country’s current conduct of the war.
The prime minister previously stated that he would defy the president’s demands.
Biden is under increasing pressure from members of the Arab American and Muslim American community, raising the prospect that the drop in support could affect the November election, including in states such as Michigan and Minnesota.
