Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Monday that there was a date set for an Israeli military offensive into the southern city of Rafah.

“Today I received a detailed report on the talks in Cairo, we are constantly working to achieve our goals, first and foremost the release of all our hostages and achieving a complete victory over Hamas,” Netanyahu said in a video message in Hebrew posted on social media platform X, formerly Twitter. 

Netanyahu reiterated that victory over Hamas militants “requires entry into Rafah and the elimination of the terrorist battalions there. It will happen – there is a date.” He did not mention any timeline. 

Israel’s plans for a Rafah invasion have been met with strong opposition from international allies due to the spiraling humanitarian crisis in Gaza.

More than 1 million Palestinians are currently sheltering in Rafah from fighting elsewhere in the sealed-off Gaza Strip.

Netanyahu has been hinting at an invasion of Rafah since at least February, including setting a deadline for the start of Ramadan on March 10, which came and went. 

The latest announcement comes just a day after the Israeli military said it had withdrawn most of its ground troops from the southern Gaza strip, leaving just one brigade in the city of Khan Younis.

Source: Dw