Israeli Military Preparing Offensive on Hamas Rafah Stronghold, Despite Mounting Threats from Biden Admin
Jerusalem Post: The IDF to “stagger the invasion of Rafah into stages to make sure that most of the civilians left before major fighting took place.”
Despite repeated threats from President Joe Biden’s administration, Israel is preparing for a ground offensive on Hamas’s last remaining stronghold of Rafah.
“The Israel Defense Forces has begun isolating Rafah in southern Gaza and has started taking steps to evacuate the city’s civilian population, Channel 12 reported on Wednesday,” the Jewish News Syndicate (JNS) news agency reported Thursday, citing Hebrew language media.
The preparations are largely focused on the humanitarian aspects, with the Israeli government ordering thousands of tents to accommodate evacuees from Rafah. “As part of the preparations for the operation, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has ordered the purchase from China of 40,000 tents for Rafah evacuees, which will be moved to the Gaza Strip from Israel, according to the report,” the news agency added.
The revelations come as Hamas on Tuesday rejected a Gaza ceasefire compromise foisted the Biden White House on Israel. Jerusalem had offered to release around 800 convicted Palestinian terrorists in exchange for dozens of hostages, mainly women and children. The terror group in a statement rejected the deal, instead demanding an immediate ceasefire, complete military withdrawal from Gaza and large-scale release of terrorists from Israeli prisons.
The delay in the planned Rafah offensive has largely been caused due to Israel’s humanitarian concerns, the Jerusalem Post suggested on Thursday.
The newspaper reported the military’s plan to evacuate Rafah:
Israel and the IDF had detailed plans for evacuating the civilians: Al-Mawasi on the coast, to designated parts of Khan Yunis that have already been cleared of Hamas, and to parts of central Gaza that have already been cleared of Hamas.
The plans include specific safe corridors which have also been mapped out.
And the IDF moved most of the 1.2 million Palestinian civilians out of Gaza City mostly successfully, so it has managed a mass evacuation already, in addition to smaller but sizable mass evacuations from Khan Yunis and parts of central Gaza.
Also, Israel and the IDF were willing to stagger the invasion of Rafah into stages to make sure that most of the civilians left before major fighting took place.
The Israeli military is planning to launch the Rafah operation between mid-April or early May, a report published by The Times of Israel on Wednesday claimed:
Following the failure of the latest round of negotiations in Qatar, Israel is not willing to make any further concessions to Hamas and is gearing up for an invasion of Rafah after Eid al-Fitr — the three-day holiday that follows Ramadan and ends around April 12 — or in early May at the latest, according to Egyptian sources who have been in contact with IDF officials, quoted by the pro-Hezbollah Al-Akhbar daily.
The ground op inside the last bastion of Hamas in the Gaza Strip would last between four and eight weeks, the sources say, and would be accompanied by an evacuation of the civilian population sheltering in Rafah, which amounts to about 1.5 million people, toward the center of the Strip along specific routes and at specific times, announced to civilians in each area of Rafah in advance.
The mass evacuation would be monitored from the ground and the air to ensure that no Hamas fighters or Israeli hostages are hidden among the Gazan civilians, the Egyptian officials say.
Biden admin ups pressure on Israel, slows downs military exports
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken warned Israel of ‘diplomatic isolation’ if it decides to go against Hamas in Rafah. The offensive “risks further isolating Israel around the world and jeopardizing its long term security and standing,” Blinken said during his visit to Israel on Friday.
Vice President Kamala Harris threatened Israel with “consequences” if the country went ahead with the operation.
“Let me tell you something: I have studied the maps,” Harris declared, bragging about her grasp of cartography and urban warfare. “There’s nowhere for those folks to go,” she claimed referring to Rafah’s civilian population.
President Biden’s national security spokesman, John Kirby, became the latest White House staffer to warn Israel against taking on Hamas terrorists in Rafah, the Israeli TV channel i24NEWS reported:
Later on Wednesday, the White House National Security Communications Adviser John Kirby reiterated that the U.S. stands against the operation in Rafah, telling Channel 12 that Washington “just can’t support a major ground offensive in Rafah that doesn’t include an achievable, verifiable plan to look after the safety and security of the 1.5 million Gazans that have sought refuge there.”
“Again, we believe that a major ground operation in Rafah is a mistake. We believe that there are other ways to go after Hamas in Rafah to do it in a way that doesn’t put those people, the refugees, in harm’s way,” added Kirby.
Apart from diplomatic threats, the Biden administration appears to have slowed down defense exports in a bid to force Israel into submission. After nearly six months of fighting, the Israeli officials “noted a recent reduction of American arms supplies,” The New York Sun reported March 18. The IDF was “running out of 155 mm artillery shells and 120 mm tank shells, as well as sensitive guidance equipment,” the news website disclosed.
With Israel busy with humanitarian planning, Hamas fortifies Rafah
With the Israeli government and the military planners busy with humanitarian planning, Hamas appears to have received a desperately sought breather after months of fighting. Hamas’s terrorist fighting force is regrouping and fortifying its last-standing stronghold, the Israeli media reported citing Arab sources.
The i24NEWS reported Thursday:
Hamas began preparing for an Israeli ground operation into Gaza’s southernmost city of Rafah, according to a report published by the Al-Araby Al-Jadeed on Thursday.
According to the report, citing a Hamas leader, coordination was underway “emphasizing not to allow the breaking of resistance in Gaza under any circumstances, no matter what it costs.”
IDF raid on Shifa Hospital continues, 200 terrorists eliminated
The Israeli operation against Hamas terrorists inside the Shifa Hospital in Gaza city entered its tenth day, with IDF eliminating estimated 200 terrorists and apprehending hundreds others, including several high-value Hamas and Islamic Jihad (PIJ) operatives.
“The IDF and ISA [Israel Security Agency, also known as Shin Bet] are continuing to conduct precise operational activity in the area of the Shifa Hospital while preventing harm to civilians, patients, medical teams, and medical equipment. Approximately 200 terrorists have been eliminated in the area of the hospital since the beginning of the activity,” the Israeli military revealed in press release on Thursday.
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That’s right, pay no attention to that pedophile traitor in the white house and just take care of business.
We should set up a go fund me campaign to support Israel’s war against Hamas. They are good at killing Muslims and the whole world befits from it.
GoFundMe is a pinko commie pantywaist org unworthy of our business. They would shut down any such collection on their platform anyway.
“U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken warned Israel of ‘diplomatic isolation’”
Don’t threaten us with a good time.
I would say that Israel is already quite used to that.
Blinken is a blinking idiot! How that incompetent doofus ever was chosen for SecState is a continuing mystery.
Democrats do make some strange choices for SecState. But at least Warren Christopher was asleep most of the time and thus did little harm during his tenure.
“Let me tell you something: I have studied the maps,” Harris declared, bragging about her grasp of cartography and urban warfare.
The best humor comes from the zingers you didn’t see coming.
Israel should do what they need to do.
Vice President Kamala Harris: “Let me tell you something: I have studied the maps,”
“It isn’t who studies the maps; it’s who makes the maps.” — callback to colloquial paraphrase of statement by Ioseb Besarionis dze Jughashvili.
The only map that vile harlot, Kamala, has studied is the one that led straight to Willie Brown’s schlong.
Kamala The CARTOLOGIST!! Sure she has “studied the MAPS”! She’s so stupid I doubt she could FIND the MUSTARD on a HOTDOG CART! What an EMBARRASSMENT for Our Nation to have the Kamala just ONE heartbeat away!! BUT, she “made history” and THAT is what’s important to the mindless left! BUT, look at it this way – she was the ONLY “woman of color” who could make the walking (stumbling) joke of Joe Biden look like he wasn’t the WORST that could happen!
I don’t see any viable course for the Israelis except to press on regardless. They will be condemned for what has already happened regardless of what course they take now. So they may as well to choose “hung no higher for a sheep than a lamb” and so push forward. I personally do not believe that Hamas – like toxic black mold- can be eradicated but certainly the more damaged Hamas is, the slower its return will be.
As for the Hostages, I have said my prayers for them. They must rationally be considered dead as Hamas will never willingly return them alive. I can hope that the Israelis can find a way to rescue some of them, but I do not expect it possible.
Are they going to kill the rest of the ones who are trying to kill them?
Hodge answered it: “I don’t see any viable course for the Israelis except to press on regardless.”
So TRUE! It’s something they should have done the FIRST time they were attacked. The USA missed their opportunity way back when President Reagan entered office and the mullahs immediately released the Hostages. We should have simply wiped them out then! Civilized people are sometimes just too “nice” for their own good!
I hope zero hour is the moment Biden’s fundraiser is set to begin.
For a measly $100 Large you can get a picture with Biden, Obama and Clinton but only if its before the 1830 bedtime of Senile Joe and if Hillary can keep Bill away from the interns. Big Mike takes carebof Barry
God speed Israel
And good hunting.
Threats from the Biden administration?
I’m sure Netanyahu and the IDF are quaking in their boots over that.
FJB
Not much, I bet. I had the pleasure years ago training/jumping (I still proudly have my Israeli Wings) with IDF Paratroopers and they are serious people. Well trained and disciplined.
I’ve known and worked with many members of the IDF as well. They are indeed well trained and disciplined.
I posted this a couple of weeks ago but IMO it is worth repeating. The gazans invaded Israel, cut the heads off numerous babies, killed others in ovens, and abducted and raped multiple women. It is incredible how much discipline the IDF has.
The vile Dhimmi-crats are pure evil, unabashedly throwing their lot in with goose-stepping, sadistic and genocidal Muslim terrorists, supremacists and Islamofascists.
“They have no where to go” resident Mensa VP states missing that giant Islamic country of Egypt only a few miles away.
Israel was going to be condemned no matter what it did so it should have immediately went scorched earth and leveled the place until the terrorists surrendered then shot all of them, dumped them into a mass grave and threw pig carcasses on top.
Why do you hate pigs?
The idea that Moslems have a particular horror of being buried with pig remains, or think it would bar them from the Afterlife, is a myth. Moslems have no such belief, so the gesture would be pointless. Just kill them, and don’t waste the pigs. Not much demand for them locally, so export them.
Export who? The pigs or the Moslems?
You should never waste bacon.
Yeah.. like it’s never started a rebellion or anything…or wait!
The immediate cause of the Indian Revolt of 1857, or Sepoy Mutiny, was a seemingly minor change in the weapons used by the British East India Company’s troops. The Company had upgraded to the new Pattern 1853 Enfield rifle, which used greased paper cartridges. In order to open the cartridges and load the rifles, soldiers (known as sepoys) had to bite into the paper and tear it with their teeth.
Rumors began to spread in 1856 that the grease on the cartridges was made from a mixture of beef tallow and pork lard. Eating cows, of course, is forbidden by Hinduism, while consumption of pork is forbidden by Islam. Thus, by making one small change to its munitions, the British managed to greatly offend both Hindu and Muslim soldiers.
The sepoys’ revolt began in Meerut, the first area to receive the new weapons. British manufacturers soon changed the cartridges in an attempt to calm the spreading anger among the soldiers, but this move backfired. The switch only confirmed, in the minds of the sepoys, that the original cartridges had indeed been greased with cow and pig fat.
But that was a long time ago you say…they don’t take that stuff so seriously anymore…right? Well…
https://aboutislam.net/counseling/ask-the-scholar/food-slaughter/can-muslims-eat-fish-fed-on-pork-fats/
“The issue of eating fish fed on pork fats is a serious issue. It is an issue every Muslim, especially those in power or responsibility, should take as an urgent challenge to address. A final solution is possible when we look at the Shariah for what it is: ethics; ethical treatment of animals and the environment cannot be detached from the Shariah.
Since neither fish nor animals are intended to be raised on such a feed, doing so is akin to interference with the natural order of things as decreed by Allah. This is the pet project of Satan, who vowed to God that he would tempt humans to distort and disfigure God’s creation.
Of course Moslems take their need for Halal food seriously. Why would anyone imagine they wouldn’t? And what on earth has it got to do with anything?
No, burying Moslems with pig remains has never caused any rebellion. Nor has it ever calmed a rebellion, which is the purpose for which it is so often proposed. Moslems simply have no horror of being buried in pig skins, or smeared with pig fat, or whatever other cockamamie idea people have. It’s a complete myth. You threaten a Moslem that if he doesn’t stop fighting you, when you kill him you’ll bury him in a pig skin and he says “So what? I’ll still be a martyr, I’ll still get my 72 raisins, your ‘threat’ means absolutely nothing to me”.
I was of course fully aware of the Sepoy rebellion. It is completely and utterly irrelevant to the topic, and I don’t understand why you would think to mention it, let alone thing that it makes some kind of point for you.
“The Israeli military is planning to conduct the Rafah operation between mid-April or early May…” Okay, start tomorrow.
Yeah, would not surprise me if that declaration is a deception.
The Israeli military should have conducted the Rafah operation the moment Hamas rejected the latest cease fire offer made by the Biden regime and dealt with the Arab terrorists. Giving Hamas time to re-group and re-arm is just insane. The IDF needs to attack now and not delay.
Even if Israel were to capitulate and declare a total cease-fire and agree to all of the demands that Hamas and the so-called “Palestinians” put forth, do people really think these violent hateful radicals and terrorists would suddenly declare peace?
You could give them every single thing they’ve ever demanded, to the letter, and they would still be a bunch of angry savages who would hate you and murder you as soon as they have the chance.
Too many Muslims still abide by the Arab League’s 1967 declaration of the “three nos” of the Khartoum Resolution:
“No peace with Israel, no recognition of Israel, no negotiations with Israel.”
How would the US have responded to the sophistry that we must have a “proportionate response” to Pearl Harbor or 9/11?
The US has pursued its real wars with just cause to unconditional surrender. For us to tell Israel something different is both unfair and nauseating. If Israel succumbs to this administration’s threats and pressure, the entire Muslim Brotherhood will be inspired to bloody celebration, and it won’t be confined to Israel, Jews, and Christians.
As for any foolish non-Muslims who fall for that “genocide” nonsense, I strongly suggest we answer back with recent history lessons and translations of what the members of the Muslim Brotherhood say, and what other Muslims say about them.
Hamas is ISIS is AlQaeda is Hezbollah.
“Hamas is ISIS is Al Qaeda is Hezbollah.”
If there is a difference between them, kill them all and let God sort them out.
No, the first three are Sunni and Hizballah is Shi’ite. But they put their differences temporarily aside when it comes to killing Jews or Americans. Then they get back to killing each other.
The United States government has as a major foreign policy goal the protection of Islamic terrorists worldwide. Anything that could impede them now or in the future is anathema to those who rule us.
Subotai Bahadur
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aua344pPib8
Don’t stop IDf
Unfortunately, their appeasement efforts to evacuate “civilians” (as if there were any such thing in Gaza) will allow a significant number of Hamas operatives to escape, thus drawing out the conflict ever longer. Hopefully they’ll at least get the current high level leadership (I assume they’re smart enough to screen the “evacuees” for high value targets trying to escape) but with an evacuation of that scale, it’s inevitable that a few are going to escape and it won’t take long for the ones who get away to fill the leadership void and get Hamas back into the game.
Without completely eliminating Hamas which was their stated goal at the beginning, this is going to be a very, very long game of whack-a-mole for the IDF…and the current policy of trying to appease the rest of the world by going easy on the Gazans who overwhelmingly support Hamas is definitely not going to achieve the goal of destroying Hamas.
Again, the clown show at the White House does not fail to disappoint. While trying to convince everyone that it supports Israel, its actions show that, in fact, the administration’s genuine desire is to support terrorists.
The United States is not the country facing an existential crisis. Every day, Israel confronts terrorists. It has the obligation to protect its citizens. Something the administration should learn.
Israel’s plan of action actually goes above what is required. Providing safe exit routes for civilians and providing protected shelter in other areas of Gaza illustrates that point. Providing information on when to evacuate endangers its own troops.
Offering to release terrorists from jail, not for the first time, is an action that will contribute to Israel’s danger.
For the clowns and idiots in DC, for once, stick to your principles if you have any, which I doubt.
You gotta do what you gotta do. It’s like when the Allies were preparing for an assault on Berlin to finish WWII. The Nazis had hunkered down there, and were refusing to surrender. Yes, invading Berlin led to many civilian deaths, but it had to be done.
Now, Hamas has hunkered down in Rafah and are refusing to surrender, so you have to go in and pry them out. If Hamas would surrender and release the hostages, the war would be over tomorrow. Nosy world leaders like Biden should be pressuring Hamas to surrender.
#FJB. All day, every day.