Despite growing pressure from President Joe Biden on Israel to suspend the planned military operation against the last remaining terrorist stronghold of Rahaf, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Saturday vowed to pursue complete victory over Hamas in Gaza, including the capture of the southernmost terrorist bastion.
In a apparent reference to President Biden, Prime Minister Netanyahu said that “Those who want us to desist from the Rafah operation … are telling us we should lose.”
“We won’t be dictated to,” Netanyahu declared at a press conference on Saturday evening.
The Jerusalem Post reported Prime Minister’s remarks:
An IDF military operation in Rafah is necessary to defeat Hamas irrespective of any hostage deal, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said as he pushed back against massive international pressure to hold off from such a move.“There is no substitute for total victory and there is no other way to do it than eliminating the [Hamas] battalions in Rafah,” he said, adding, “We will do it.”“Everyone wants an additional deal for a [hostage] deal,” Netanyahu said, adding “I want one as well. It’s good if we achieve that, but even if we achieve it [a deal], we [the IDF] will enter Rafah.”
The statement comes after President Biden on Friday told reporters that he ‘expected’ Israel to halt military plans to take the Rafah terrorist stronghold. “President Biden called on Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to agree to a temporary halt to Israel’s military campaign in the Gaza Strip to secure the release of hostages held by Hamas militants and postpone a planned offensive in the enclave’s southernmost city,” The Wall Street Journal reported Friday
“Speaking to reporters at the White House on Friday, Biden said he expected Netanyahu to hold off on sending Israeli troops into Rafah, the Gaza city along the Egypt border,” the WSJ added.
Israel’s war cabinet minister Benny Gantz on Friday urged Hamas to free the around 130 hostages languishing in captivity for more than four month or face a military offensive against Rafah, the southernmost part of Gaza on Egyptian border.
“There will be peace when our goals are achieved. It can continue even in the month of Ramadan,” the war cabinet member assured. “Either the hostages will be returned, or we will extend the fighting to Rafah.”
The Israel warnings coincides with Hamas’s decision to suspended hostage negotiations, news reports on Saturday evening suggest. “Hamas has suspended all Gaza ceasefire and hostage deal negotiations until humanitarian aid is brought into the northern part of the Strip,” the Jerusalem Post reported citing Arab news outlets.
The Israeli broadcaster Arutz Sheva reported war cabinet minister’s comments:
Minister Benny Gantz addressed Hamas on the background of the continued fighting and the looming prospects of the IDF invading Rafah.“A moment before Shabbat, I would like to address all citizens of Israel and the families of the hostages. We will not stop until we bring them back, no matter how, as we proved this week. There will be no ceasefire for even a day until our hostages are returned. In any case, the war will continue until its goals have been achieved.”He then specifically addressed Hamas: “It is important that all Hamas terrorists know that there will be no safe havens for them either above or below ground. The fighting can continue even during the approaching month of Ramadan.”“Either return our hostages or we will expand the fighting to Rafah. We are prepared for this, and will work in coordination with our partners, including Egypt, to evacuate the civilian population to safe areas. Then we will take action.”
Meanwhile, the Israeli soldiers are busy eliminating Hamas terrorist fighting force in southern Gaza stronghold of Khan Yunis, clearing the rear ahead of a possible storming of Rafah.
“IDF troops continue to operate against terror targets in the area of Khan Yunis,” the Israeli military said in a press release on Saturday. “IDF troops conducted targeted raids on numerous terrorist targets where they located weapons including grenades, explosive devices, and AK-47 rifles.”
The IDF is also preparing a detailed plan for the capture of Rafah, which will include the relocation of Palestinians out of the combat zone to other parts of Gaza, Israel media reports suggest.
The Times of Israel reported Friday:
Channel 12 says in an unsourced report that the IDF will next week present the political echelon a detailed plan for entering Rafah.The plan apparently provides for relocating citizens to other parts of south and central Gaza, but not to the north of the strip, the network says.It also says Defense Minister Yoav Gallant and war cabinet minister Benny Gantz believe that if there is no hostage deal reached by Ramadan, which begins around March 10, the IDF should go into Rafah.
Four month after Iranian-trained Palestinian terrorists killed more than 1200 Israelis in coordinated mass-murder, Israel has struck Iran’s main gas pipelines, The New York Times claimed on Friday quoting Iranian officials and operative of the country’s Islamic Guard (IRGC) terrorist group.
Israel is believed to have targeted wanted terrorists on Iranian soil and regime’s rogue nuclear weapons program, but this is the first major attack on Iran’s oil infrastructure — Tehran’s main source of funding terrorism across the world, the newspaper noted.
The NYT reports:
Israel carried out covert attacks on two major natural gas pipelines inside Iran this week, disrupting the flow of heat and cooking gas to provinces with millions of people, according to two Western officials and a military strategist affiliated with Iran’s Revolutionary Guards Corps.The strikes represent a notable shift in the shadow war that Israel and Iran have been waging by air, land, sea and cyberattack for years.Israel has long targeted military and nuclear sites inside Iran — and assassinated Iranian nuclear scientists and commanders, both inside and outside of the country. Israel has also waged cyberattacks to disable servers belonging to the oil ministry, causing turmoil at gas stations nationwide. (…)The Western officials and the Iranian military strategist said the gas pipeline attacks by Israel required deep knowledge of Iran’s infrastructure and careful coordination, especially since two pipelines were hit in multiple locations at the same time.
Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant on Friday released more evidence showing that 12 UNRWA employees took active part and 30 others assisted in Hamas’s October 7 massacres of Israelis.
UNRWA, the United Nation’s Palestinian aid agency, has a long track record of colluding with Hamas and other Palestinian terrorist groups. Last week, the IDF uncovered Hamas’s underground terrorist commander center and server farm right beneath the UNRWA’s Gaza headquarters.
The Times of Israel reported:
Defense Minister Yoav Gallant on Friday publicly revealed the identities of 12 UNRWA staff members who Israel says “actively participated” in the Hamas-led October 7 onslaught on southern Israel. (…)Among the staff who took part in the attacks are teachers who worked at UNRWA schools.“In addition to these 12 workers, we have significant indications based on intelligence, that over 30 UNRWA workers participated in the massacre, facilitated the taking of hostages, looted and stole from Israeli communities, and more,” Gallant said in a briefing with foreign press.Gallant said that UNRWA has “lost legitimacy and can no longer function as a UN body,” and said he has therefore instructed the IDF and defense establishment to transfer responsibilities of aid delivery in the Strip to other humanitarian organizations.
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