Channel 12 reports that during a war cabinet meeting earlier this week, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told participants that given international pressure, the IDF will have to complete its upcoming operation in Rafah aimed at dismantling Hamas’s remaining operative battalions in Gaza.
The prognosis was made during a discussion about the pending Rafah operation during which IDF Chief of Staff Herzi Halevi told Netanyahu that the IDF was ready to operate in the southern Gaza city, but that it needed the government to first decide what it wants to do with the over one million civilians there, in addition to determining what it wants to do with the Philadelphi corridor on the Egyptian side of the Gaza border.
The latter issue needs to be resolved in order to maintain cooperation with Egypt, given the critical role it plays in any Rafah operation, Channel 12 explains, noting that Netanyahu has dragged his feet on reaching decisions on either issue.
Earlier today, Netanyahu’s office announced that he had directed the IDF to draft a plan for evacuating the civilians in Rafah so that the IDF operation could move forward, but Channel 12 suggests that the statement was just public posturing given that the army has already crafted such plans but is waiting for directives from the political echelon.
It's not (only) about you.
Supporting The Times of Israel isn’t a transaction for an online service, like subscribing to Netflix. The ToI Community is for people like you who care about a common good: ensuring that balanced, responsible coverage of Israel continues to be available to millions across the world, for free.
Sure, we'll remove all ads from your page and you'll unlock access to some excellent Community-only content. But your support gives you something more profound than that: the pride of joining something that really matters.
Join the Times of Israel Community
Join our Community
Already a member? Sign in to stop seeing this
You're a dedicated reader
We’re really pleased that you’ve read X Times of Israel articles in the past month.
That’s why we started the Times of Israel - to provide discerning readers like you with must-read coverage of Israel and the Jewish world.
So now we have a request. Unlike other news outlets, we haven’t put up a paywall. But as the journalism we do is costly, we invite readers for whom The Times of Israel has become important to help support our work by joining The Times of Israel Community.
For as little as $6 a month you can help support our quality journalism while enjoying The Times of Israel AD-FREE, as well as accessing exclusive content available only to Times of Israel Community members.
Thank you,
David Horovitz, Founding Editor of The Times of Israel
Join Our Community
Join Our Community
Already a member? Sign in to stop seeing this