On February 11, Hamas' Aqsa TV channel quoted a senior Hamas official as warning that any Israeli ground attack on Rafah would cause hostage exchange negotiations to collapse.
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| Smoke billows during an Israeli bombardment of Khan Yunis in the southern Gaza Strip on February 11, 2024, as fighting continues to escalate between the two sides. (Source: Aawsat) |
The announcement came after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ordered the military to draw up a plan to evacuate Rafah and destroy four Hamas battalions believed to have been deployed there. Most Gazans fleeing the war have sought refuge in Rafah.
After ceasefire talks failed to produce results, Prime Minister Netanyahu declared this week that Israel would continue fighting until it achieved “total victory.”
Before previous attacks on Gaza cities, the Israeli military ordered civilians to evacuate south. But now there is no place for people to go and aid agencies warn that many could die.
Meanwhile, Egypt also threatened to suspend the peace treaty if Israel entered Rafah.
Egypt has threatened to suspend its peace treaty with Israel if it deploys troops to the Gaza Strip border town of Rafah, two Egyptian officials and a Western diplomat said on February 11. They also said fighting there could shut down the main aid route to the territory.
More than half of the Gaza Strip’s 2.3 million people have fled to Rafah to escape fighting elsewhere and are living in vast tent camps and UN-run shelters near the border. Egypt fears hundreds of thousands of Palestinian refugees may never be allowed to return.
(according to Reuters, AP)
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