Israel has begun its military operation into Rafah after rejecting Hamas’ cease-fire claim as a deception.
“The IDF is currently conducting targeted strikes against Hamas terror targets in eastern Rafah in southern Gaza,” the Israel Defense Forces said Monday night local time.
The world’s eyes are now on the southern city in the Gaza Strip, where more than 1 million Palestinians have taken refuge while fleeing war elsewhere in the territory.
President Biden has repeatedly warned Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu not to go ahead with the Rafah offensive unless the IDF could secure the safety of the civilians, with the president repeating himself during a call earlier Monday.
“The president was consistent again this morning that we don’t support ground operations in Rafah,” White House national security spokesman John Kirby told reporters prior to the advancement.
As the IDF entered Rafah, Hamas said it fired rockets at the Israeli city of Sderot, Nir Am and other areas near the Gazan border.
The IDF confirmed that the missiles were intercepted by the Iron Dome defense system, with one home damaged by falling shrapnel from the attack.
The announcement came shortly after Israel’s war cabinet unanimously voted to proceed with the attack on Hamas’ final stronghold in an effort to apply military pressure on the terror group, “with the goal of making progress on freeing the hostages and the other war aims,” Netanyahu’s office said.
The prime minister also slammed Hamas’ latest truce officer as “far from Israel’s obligatory demands.”
Following Hamas chief Ismail Haniyeh’s announcement that the terror group had accepted a cease-fire deal, Israeli officials told multiple outlets that the deal presented to the terror group was a “softened” version of what was really on the table and is not being taken seriously by Jerusalem.
One official told Reuters that the announcement was a clear ruse by the terror group to create backlash against Israel for refusing a deal, and officials told public broadcaster KAN TV that the announcement of a cease-fire agreement was a “Hamas deception.”
Despite criticizing Hamas’ move, Netanyahu’s office said Israel is still sending a negotiation team to Cairo “to exhaust the possibility of achieving an agreement on terms that are acceptable to Israel.”
Israel has repeatedly rejected any cease-fire deal that calls for an end to the war, with Netanyahu saying that the conflict will only end once Hamas has been eradicated and Gaza proves to no longer be a threat to the Jewish State.
Thousands of Palestinians are fleeing parts of Rafah after Israel issued warnings it was planning to start military action.
IDF spokesperson Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari said the more than 100,ooo Palestinians who were told to flee eastern Rafah on Monday were instructed to stay in humanitarian zones for the rest of the night, while others were told to run to Al-Mawasi or Khan Younis.
“There they will receive a full humanitarian response, where water, food, medical equipment and shelter will be provided,” Hagari said in a statement.
Netanyahu has agreed to keep the Kerem Shalom crossing open to allow humanitarian aid to go through after closing the passage over the weekend following Hamas’ attack.
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