Anti-Israel trolls are again crying foul after Israeli military destroyed a Hamas rocket launcher next to a humanitarian area in Rafah, southern Gaza.
Pro-Palestinian agitators on Twitter accused Israel of a ‘war crime’ and ‘genocide’ after an Israeli fighter jet on Friday struck a launcher used by terrorists to fire rockets towards southern Israel.
“Yesterday (Friday), a launch that was identified crossing from the area of Khan Yunis toward Kibbutz Ein HaShlosha fell near the security fence area in the southern Gaza Strip. Shortly after, IAF fighter jets struck terror targets adjacent to a launch site in the area of Khan Yunis in the southern Gaza Strip,” the Israeli military disclosed in a press release Saturday.
The IDF guided the Gaza civilians away from the target ahead of the strike, even at the cost of losing the element of surprise.
“Additionally, IAF aircraft struck a loaded mortar launcher ready to fire toward IDF troops in the central Gaza Strip. Furthermore, in the southern Gaza Strip, after the IDF confirmed the evacuation of civilians located near the area, IAF fighter jets struck rocket launchers aimed to launch toward Israel in the southern Gaza Strip,” the press statement added.
The incident took place in Khan Yunis, a town couple of miles from Rafah — the last remaining Hamas stronghold in Gaza. The IDF is setting up a massive tent city in the area to accommodate civilian evacuees from Rafah ahead of an impending military operation aimed at freeing the hostages and eliminating Hamas’s Gaza-based terrorist leadership.
While holding Israeli hostages for nearly seven months, terrorist group Hamas is again stalling negotiations — making more blatant demands. The Gaza-based terrorist group wants a complete Israel withdrawal and full cessation of military operations before a single hostage is even released.
According to news reports, Hamas has offered to release hostages in several phases, possibly giving the terrorists group time to regroup and rearm. The terror group also wants hundreds of convicted terrorists, including high-profile ones, in exchange for Israeli hostages in captivity since October 7.
In addition to releasing convicted terrorists, Israel is willing to grant a temporary truce, but rejects a complete and permanent ceasefire as demanded by Hamas.
The Times of Israel reported Saturday:
Negotiations for a potential hostage deal and truce in Gaza appeared to reach a critical moment Saturday, with Hamas set to offer its response to the latest proposal, and Israel indicating an offensive in the city of Rafah could be imminent if no agreement is reached.With Arab and American mediators pressing intensely for a temporary ceasefire, several reports Saturday said Hamas was prepared to accept the latest proposal, in light of assurances from the United States that there will be a “sustainable cessation” of the war. (…)A Hamas delegation was in Cairo Saturday, as was CIA Director William Burns, for meetings with Egyptian mediators.The truce deal is believed to be composed of several potential phases, with the first phase seeing a limited release of “humanitarian” hostages for a truce of several weeks, while further phases featuring further releases and a more solid ceasefire are possible.Citing unidentified sources, the Palestinian Al-Quds newspaper said American mediators had promised that Israel would completely withdraw from Gaza under the third and final phase, and the war would effectively end.
Hamas has been refusing to give the names of the living hostages, raising fears the many of them may have been murdered by Gaza terrorists. Some 130 Israeli hostages are still unaccounted for after seven months of captivity.
The Israeli government regards media speculations over the final ceasefire deal on Saturday as ‘premature,’ the country’s English language TV channel i24NEWS said.
“An Israeli official speaking to i24NEWS on the condition of anonymity on Saturday sought to rebuff reports that a ceasefire and hostage deal could be announced in the coming hours,” the TV channel reported. “Even allowing that an agreement on the framework of the deal is in place, there are still many details to thrash out, including the names of the prisoners to be released, which has yet been discussed at this stage, the official told i24NEWS.”
The Biden administration has apparently ‘guaranteed’ Hamas that Israel will pull out all troops from Gaza and end the military operation in exchange for a hostage deal.
“According to the report, Hamas was guaranteed by the U.S. for a full Israeli withdrawal from the Gaza Strip and that Israeli forces will not continue fighting once the hostages are released,” Israeli newspaper Haaretz reported Saturday.
Prime Minister Netanyahu’s government on Saturday rejected any unilateral guarantees given by the Biden White House interlopers to Hamas. “U.S. ‘assurances’ to Hamas regarding a permanence ceasefire are theirs alone,” the i24NEWS reported quoting an Israel official.
Washington’s assurances contradict recent statements given by Prime Minister Netanyahu, members of his cabinet and top military officials, that the IDF was committed to entering Rafah terrorist stronghold regardless of a hostage deal.
The Israeli military launched the ‘Swords of Iron’ operation in the wake of the October 7 massacre with the twin objective of bringing back the hostages, and eliminating Hamas’s terrorist leadership and fighting force in Gaza.
The Israeli news website YNET reported the details published in the Saudi daily:
According to information from the Saudi newspaper “Al-Sharq,” the United States has given Hamas assurances through intermediaries that would lead to a ceasefire and an IDF pullout from Gaza, contingent on the successful completion of the expected three stages of the hostage deal and ceasefire agreement. The report further states that Hamas is expected to react favorably to these American assurances. Future efforts will be aimed at forming a national consensus for the governance and reconstruction of the Gaza Strip.
In an apparent bid to prevent Israel from entering Rafah, the Biden White House rejected a detailed Israeli humanitarian and military plan for Rafah operation, claiming it is not ‘comprehensive’ enough. “US officials say details shared by Israel didn’t change administration’s view that operation would put too many non-combatants at risk,” The Times of Israel reported Saturday.
The news outlet added:
Israel this week briefed Biden administration officials on a plan to evacuate Palestinian civilians ahead of a potential operation in the southern Gaza city of Rafah aimed at rooting out Hamas terrorists, according to US officials familiar with the talks.The officials, who were not authorized to comment publicly and requested anonymity to speak about the sensitive exchange, said that the plan detailed by the Israelis did not change the US administration’s view that moving forward with an operation in Rafah would put too many innocent Palestinian civilians at risk. (…)White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters on Friday that no “comprehensive” plan for a potential Rafah operation has been revealed by the Israelis to the White House. The operation, however, has been discussed during recent calls between Biden and Netanyahu as well as during recent virtual talks with top Israeli and US national security officials.
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