Netanyahu Vows To Invade Rafah ‘With or Without’ a Hostage Deal

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed on Tuesday that Israel will invade the southern Gaza city of Rafah “with or without” a hostage deal with Hamas, a threat that could derail fragile ceasefire negotiations.

“The idea that we will halt the war before achieving all of its goals is out of the question,” Netanyahu told representatives of hostage families, according to a statement from his office.

“We will enter Rafah and we will eliminate the Hamas battalions there – with or without a deal, in order to achieve the total victory,” he added.

Rafah is packed with over 1 million Palestinian civilians, and any Israeli invasion would incur huge civilian casualties and further disrupt aid shipments into the Strip. The US has said it’s opposed to Israel launching the attack without a plan for the civilians. But an evacuation is not feasible since there’s no place for civilians to go, and the US doesn’t appear to be applying any real pressure since unconditional military aid continues to flow.