{"id":100063,"date":"2024-02-18T02:36:53","date_gmt":"2024-02-18T02:36:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.estaql.com\/benjamin-netanyahu-remains-defiant-over-criticism-of-possible-rafah-offensive-world-news\/"},"modified":"2024-02-18T02:36:53","modified_gmt":"2024-02-18T02:36:53","slug":"benjamin-netanyahu-remains-defiant-over-criticism-of-possible-rafah-offensive-world-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/estaql.com\/seo\/benjamin-netanyahu-remains-defiant-over-criticism-of-possible-rafah-offensive-world-news\/","title":{"rendered":"Benjamin Netanyahu remains defiant over criticism of possible Rafah offensive | World News"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Benjamin Netanyahu remains defiant over criticism of possible Rafah offensive | World News<\/h2>\n

Benjamin Netanyahu remains defiant over criticism of possible Rafah offensive | World News<\/p>\n

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Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has fought back against condemnation over a potential offensive in the Gaza city of Rafah, saying those advising against it are “telling us to lose the war”. <\/p>\n

Leaders and officials around the world, including US President Joe Biden<\/strong> and UK Foreign Secretary Lord Cameron<\/strong>, have continually warned Mr Netanyahu against sending troops into Rafah, with particular concern about civilians who are sheltering there.<\/p>\n

But speaking during a press conference on Saturday, Mr Netanyahu seemed to hit out at forewarnings, saying: “Whoever is telling us not to operate in Rafah is telling us to lose the war.”<\/p>\n

“I will not have a part in this,” he added, saying the political campaign he is leading has allowed Israel<\/strong> to operate with “unprecedented freedom of action for five months”.<\/p>\n

It comes as the prime minister confirmed his office has ordered the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) to develop a plan to evacuate the city and destroy four Hamas<\/strong> battalions it says are deployed there.<\/p>\n

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\n Palestinians in Rafah shelter at the border with Egypt. Pic: Reuters
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“We’re going to do it. We’re going to get the remaining Hamas terrorist battalions in Rafah,” he said during an interview aired on US network ABC last week.<\/p>\n

“We’re going to do it while providing safe passage for the civilian population.”<\/p>\n

Around 1.4 million Palestinians are thought to be in Rafah, having evacuated their homes after Israel began its intense bombardment of the densely populated strip in the wake of Hamas’s 7 October attacks.<\/p>\n

Read more:
‘No preparation whatsoever’ for influx at Gaza’s Rafah border
Scottish Labour backs Gaza ceasefire
‘Gaza is worst humanitarian crisis I have seen in 50 years’<\/strong><\/p>\n

Mr Netanyahu’s inability to shift tactics in Gaza has reportedly frustrated President Joe Biden<\/strong>, who warned Mr Netanyahu against sending troops into Rafah without a “credible” plan for protecting civilians.<\/p>\n

Lord Cameron added that the UK is “very concerned” about the situation in Rafah and called for Israel to “stop and think seriously” before taking further action<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

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\n Palestinians arrive at Rafah after being evacuated from Nasser hospital in Khan Younis. Pic: Reuters<\/p>\n

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Two Egyptian officials and a Western diplomat also said Egypt<\/strong> had threatened to suspend its peace treaty with Israel if troops were sent into Rafah.<\/p>\n

Egypt is worried fighting could push Palestinians into the Sinai Peninsula<\/strong> and force the closure of Gaza’s main aid supply route.<\/p>\n

‘Delusional demands’<\/strong><\/p>\n

The country’s efforts to settle the conflict between Hamas and Israel further stalled after Mr Netanyahu halted truce talks after sending negotiators to Cairo.<\/p>\n

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When asked why Israeli negotiators did not return for further negotiations, Mr Netanyahu said on Saturday: “We got nothing except for delusional demands from Hamas.”<\/p>\n

The demands, he said, included ending the war and leaving Hamas as it is, freeing “thousands of murderers” from Israeli jails.<\/p>\n

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The Egyptian and Qatari-mediated talks have tried to secure the release of over 100 Israeli hostages being held in the Hamas-ruled territory, but they ended with little change on Tuesday.<\/p>\n

“I wanted to say not a millimetre – but there was not a nanometre of change,” Mr Netanyahu said.<\/p>\n

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He added Israel would not give in to “international dictates” regarding a statehood agreement with the Palestinians<\/strong>, which he said could only be reached through direct negotiations without preconditions.<\/p>\n

In Tel Aviv, thousands gathered outside the military’s headquarters to protest and put pressure on Mr Netanyahu’s government.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, Ismail Haniyeh, a Hamas leader, said the group would not accept anything less than a complete cessation of hostilities, Israeli withdrawal from Gaza, and “lifting of the unjust siege,” as well as a release of Palestinian prisoners serving long sentences in Israeli jails.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

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Benjamin Netanyahu remains defiant over criticism of possible Rafah offensive | World News<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Benjamin Netanyahu remains defiant over criticism of possible Rafah offensive | World News Benjamin Netanyahu remains defiant over criticism of possible Rafah offensive | World News Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has fought back against condemnation over a potential offensive in the Gaza city of Rafah, saying those advising against it are “telling us to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7711],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-100063","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-7711"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/estaql.com\/seo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/100063","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/estaql.com\/seo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/estaql.com\/seo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/estaql.com\/seo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/estaql.com\/seo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=100063"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/estaql.com\/seo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/100063\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/estaql.com\/seo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=100063"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/estaql.com\/seo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=100063"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/estaql.com\/seo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=100063"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}