Secretary of State Antony Blinken has sharpened his rhetoric towards Israel, telling the key U.S. ally to ‘get out of Gaza’ as the Israeli military tightens the noose around Hamas’ terrorist leadership in Rafah.
Blinken prophesied “enduring insurgency” in the long run if the Israeli military conducts a large-scale offensive in Rafah, Hamas’s last remaining stronghold, which has a terrorist fighting force with a strength of about four battalions.
“As we look at Rafah, they may go in and have some initial success, but potentially at an incredibly high cost to civilians,” the U.S. Secretary of State said in a TV interview on Sunday. “And they will be left holding the bag on an enduring insurgency because a lot of armed Hamas will be left, no matter what they do in Rafah, or if they leave and get out of Gaza, as we believe they need to do.”
Blinken’s warning comes as Israeli tanks and infantry were making further inroads into Hamas-held stronghold. “Israeli tanks forged deeper into eastern Rafah on Tuesday, reaching some residential districts of the southern border city,” The Times of Israel reported. More than 450,000 residents have left Rafah as urged by the IDF, the UN confirmed on Tuesday.
The Associated Press reported Secretary Blinken’s comments:
Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Sunday delivered some of the Biden administration’s strongest public criticism yet of Israel’s conduct of the war in Gaza, saying Israeli tactics have meant “a horrible loss of life of innocent civilians” but failed to neutralize Hamas leaders and fighters and could drive a lasting insurgency.In a pair of TV interviews, Blinken underscored that the United States believes Israeli forces should “get out of Gaza,” but also is waiting to see credible plans from Israel for security and governance in the territory after the war.Hamas has reemerged in parts of Gaza, Blinken said, and “heavy action” by Israeli forces in the southern city of Rafah risks leaving America’s closest Mideast ally “holding the bag on an enduring insurgency.” (…)Blinken also said that as Israel pushes deeper in Rafah in the south, a military operation may “have some initial success” but risks “terrible harm” to the population without solving a problem “that both of us want to solve, which is making sure Hamas cannot again govern Gaza.” (…) Israel has said the city also hosts four battalions of Hamas fighters.
The IDF dropped leaflets over northern Gaza, warning Hamas’ jihadist fighters trying to regroup in the area that they will return “like a roaring flood” to destroy the remnant terrorist force. “Oh Hamas leaders, we are coming. If you come back, we will come back,” the leaflet said. “We will return like a roaring flood until the clear victory.”
Besides cornering Hamas terror leadership in Rafah, the IDF is conducting counter-terror operations in northern Gaza. The IDF overnight expanded activity in the Jabalya region in the north, the Israel TV channel i24NEWS reported Tuesday.
The IDF is engaged in large-scale ground operations against terrorists not seen since Israel withdrew troops in early April amid pressure from the Biden White House, news reports suggest. “IDF Division 98 on Tuesday killed dozens of Hamas terrorists in Jabalya in northern Gaza in the largest Gaza battle since mid-March and the largest battle in Jabalya itself since January,” the Jerusalem Post reported Tuesday.
The i24NEWS reported the operations unfolding in northern Gaza:
According to the Israeli military, over the past day, Israeli troops “engaged in a number of battles, eliminated by tank fire dozens of terrorists who shot at the troops and dismantled an explosives network that was planted in the area.”Israeli troops are also said to continue operations in eastern Rafah and on the Gazan side of the Rafah crossing. IDF reported killing several armed terrorist cells in close-quarters encounters on the Gazan side of the Rafah crossing.Israeli Air Forces (IAF) struck over 100 terrorist targets across the Strip, including armed terrorists, booby-trapped structures, and additional terrorist infrastructure, read the IDF statement.Israeli troops are also said to continue operations in eastern Rafah and on the Gazan side of the Rafah crossing. IDF reported killing several armed terrorist cells in close-quarters encounters on the Gazan side of the Rafah crossing.Israeli Air Forces (IAF) struck over 100 terrorist targets across the Strip, including armed terrorists, booby-trapped structures, and additional terrorist infrastructure, read the IDF statement.
The IDF has uncovered Hamas’ plan to set up a terrorist base in Turkey, the UK newspapers Times of London and Telegraph report. With IDF crippling the terror group’s ability to operate in Gaza, Hamas operatives were looking at Turkey as a potential base for plotting terrorist attacks aimed at Israeli officials, servicemen, and civilians, documents recovered by the IDF show.
The Telegraph reported Tuesday:
Hamas planned to set up a base in Turkey from which to carry out sabotage and assassinations, according to documents reportedly found by the Israeli army in Gaza.The papers, shown to The Times [of London], were discovered in the home of Hamza Abu Shanab, chief of staff to Yahya Sinwar, the Hamas leader in Gaza, the Israeli military said.The files detail an effort by Hamas to set up teams outside its territory in the wake of Israeli moves to tighten control over the Gaza Strip.The plans included establishing “a security branch abroad which will be capable of carrying out intelligence and military operations in the future”.The files, which The Telegraph cannot independently confirm, also allegedly described a three-year plan to set up military cells and safe houses abroad to work on “sabotage and assassination.”Assassination targets supposedly included agents in Mossad, Israel’s intelligence agency, as well as “influential Israelis”.
Turkey’s Islamist President, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, has emerged as the biggest backer of the Hamas terror group besides Iran and Qatar. After the October 7 massacre, Erdogan claimed that Hamas jihadis ” are not terrorists” but “liberators.”
On Monday, the Turkish president declared the presence of around a thousand Hamas terrorists in the country. They were receiving medical treatment for injuries suffered during the ongoing Israeli military operation in Gaza, he said.
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