Palestinian officials said Hamas was insisting on Israel calling off the offensive and withdrawing forces under any deal. Israel signalled intent to move into one of the last towns where Hamas, which is sworn to its destruction, has intact forces.
“We are working to achieve another framework for the release of our abductees, as well as the completion of the elimination of the Hamas battalions in Rafah,” Netanyahu said on Facebook, referring to the town in the far south of Gaza near the border with Egypt.
This week, he added, the Israeli security cabinet would approve military plans for Rafah – including the evacuation of more than a million displaced Palestinian civilians who have been sheltering there, and whose fate worries world powers.
Almost 30,000 Palestinians have been killed in the war, Gaza medical officials say. The Hamas raid of Oct 7 killed 1,200 people in Israel, which has also lost 241 soldiers in Gaza ground fighting that followed, according to official tallies.
Source: CNA
