– It is not something we want to do while the population is locked in there. In fact, we will do the opposite, we will give them the opportunity to leave the area, says Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Israel has long announced a ground offensive against Rafah, where around 1.5 million Palestinians now live, the vast majority of them internally displaced people who live in makeshift tents.
Netanyahu maintains that a ground invasion is necessary to achieve the goal of “total victory” over Hamas.
– No amount of international pressure will stop us in the implementation of all the war’s goals. To achieve them, we will also operate in Rafah, says Netanyahu.
He made the statement after a meeting with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz.
Scholz says an Israeli attack on Rafah will make peace very difficult.
Rafah is the last city in the Gaza Strip that has not been attacked by the Israeli army during the war between Israel and Hamas.
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Defying international pressure
Netanyahu has recently been faced with strong international pressure. The majority leader in the US Senate, Chuck Schumer, believes Netanyahu is a major obstacle to peace.
– Netanyahu has too often given in to the demands of extremists, Schumer said in a speech in the Senate on Thursday.
The Democratic senator also believed that Israel should hold new elections. It was completely dismissed by Netanyahu.
– I believe that the only thing our government should be concerned with now is working to overthrow the terrorist tyranny in Gaza, the Hamas tyranny that killed over a thousand Israelis, he said.
President Joe Biden has supported Schumer’s statements.
Will not accept “weak” peace agreement
When asked about a possible peace agreement, the Israeli Prime Minister replied that they will not accept an agreement that weakens Israel.
– A potential peace agreement that weakens Israel and hinders the ability to defend the country will send the possibility of peace backwards, not forwards.
Netanyahu stressed that it would be unacceptable to have a weak peace agreement, at the same time he said that Israel must have the necessary security responsibility in Gaza.
2024-03-17 16:42:29
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