According to Israeli statistics, nearly 31,000 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza during the five-month war, which began after Hamas militants attacked Israel on October 7, killing 1,200 people and taking 253 hostages.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Photo: Reuters
Gaza health authorities did not share the death toll between civilians and Hamas militants but said 72% of those killed were women and children. Hamas also rejected Israel's claims about the number of its fighters killed.
Mr Netanyahu told German media outlet Axel Springer, which owns the newspapers Politico, Bild and Welt TV, that expanding Israel's offensive into Rafah in the southernmost part of Gaza was key to defeating Hamas.
Bild newspaper quoted Prime Minister Netanyahu as saying: "We are very close to victory... We will begin military action against the remaining terrorist battalions in Rafah, in just a few weeks."
Earlier, the administration of US President Joe Biden strongly urged Mr. Netanyahu not to launch a massive attack on Rafah until a plan was made to evacuate civilians. More than half of Gaza's 2.3 million people are sheltering in the Rafah area.
Biden even told MSNBC on Saturday that a major attack on Rafah was a “red line” for Israel, warning: “I would cut off all the weapons so they wouldn’t have Iron Dome to protect them.”
Politico quoted Netanyahu as saying on Sunday that Israeli forces would enter Rafah, adding: "You know, I have a red line. You know what the red line is, that October 7 will not happen again. Never again."
Bild newspaper quoted Prime Minister Netanyahu as saying that three-quarters of Hamas battalions had been destroyed and stopping the attack now would only allow the Palestinian militant group to regroup.
Bui Huy (according to Bild, CNN, Reuters)
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