Despite mounting pressure from the Biden administration to accept a Hamas-friendly ceasefire deal, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) continued the military operation against Hamas in the terrorist stronghold of Rafah.
“The IDF is continuing precise, intelligence-based targeted operations in the area of Rafah,” the Israeli military disclosed in a press release Sunday. “During operational activity, the troops located large quantities of weapons and eliminated armed terrorists in the area. A launcher used to fire at IDF troops was quickly dismantled in a coordinated operation between ground troops and the [Israel Air Force] IAF.
The IDF special forces were locating and destroying Hamas’s terrorist infrastructure in and around Rafah. “The Givati Brigade Combat Team, under the command of the 162nd Division, has been conducting intelligence-based targeted operations in the Yibna area of Rafah over the last few days. The troops are eliminating terrorist operatives and destroying terrorist infrastructure in the area,” the IDF revealed in a separate statement on Sunday.
In face of growing U.S. and international pressure, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu-led war cabinet is set to meet Sunday evening to discuss the Biden ceasefire deal, the Israeli media reported.
“According to a N12 report, the war cabinet will meet at 8 P.M. local time with the participation of the Israeli negotiating team presumably to discuss in depth the ceasefire-hostage deal that was presented by U.S. President Biden on Friday,” the Israeli TV channel i24NEWs reported Sunday.
Prime Minister Netanyahu on Saturday rejected President Biden’s call for a permanent ceasefire, saying that anything short of Hamas’s destruction in Gaza was a ‘non-starter.’
Netanyahu’s right-wing coalition partners have threatened to leave the government if the Biden ceasefire offer is accepted, the Times of Israel reported:
The heads of the government’s two ultranationalist parties, Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich of Religious Zionism and National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir of Otzma Yehudit, both threatened to bring down the government Saturday night if a newly proposed hostage release and ceasefire deal is adopted by the government.Both party leaders claimed that the deal would spell the end of the war without the completion of Israel’s central war aim of destroying Hamas, and vowed that they would pull their parties out of the coalition if it was accepted.The two parties won 14 seats when running together in the 2022 elections and are crucial to the governing majority of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s core 64-strong coalition.
Israel was forced to abandon the original military plan to capture Rafah due to opposition from President Biden, The Wall Street Journal reported Sunday.
Under pressure from the Biden White House “Israel shelved its original plan for a two-division sweep through Rafah,” the WSJ wrote.
“Israel overhauled its military operations in Rafah following intensive discussion with American officials to avoid crossing the Biden administration’s red line and provoking a crisis in relations with its closest ally, U.S. and Israeli officials said,” the business daily noted.
The move has slowed down the IDF’s advance in Rafah, giving Hamas a breather as Israel tightens the noose around the terrorist bastion.
Iran-backed Hezbollah terrorist group continued to escalate rocket attacks into northern Israel over the weekend.
Conflict with the Lebanon-based terrorist militia in the “north has become Israel’s main front” the Israeli news website YNET noted Sunday. “The conflict in the north is not a mere skirmish, but a war that started as a secondary front to Gaza and is now escalating,” the news website reported. “Over the past weekend, Hezbollah launched dozens of projectiles, including long-range rockets that reached as far as Acre.”
The escalation over the weekend is part of Hezbollah’s growing aggression and terrorist buildup over the border. In the past month, Hezbollah has sharply heightened rocket fire into Israel, a recent report released by Israeli strategic think tank Alma Institute shows.
“Hezbollah attacked Israel more times last month than any month since the beginning of the war on October 7, according to a report by the Alma Institute Sunday,” the i24NEWS reported Sunday, citing the study. “In May, 325 attacks were carried out, averaging just over 10 a day. This is almost 100 more than in April, when the terror organization carried out 238 attacks, averaging 7.8 per day.”
“Hezbollah also significantly increased its use of anti-tank guided missiles (ATGM) and anti-tank mines – twice as many as in April. In May, there were 95 ATGM incidents, compared to 50 in April. In May, there were 85 incidents of anti-tank mines, compared to 42 in April,” the TV channel added.
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