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The crisis of Rafah is reaching its peak. On May 6, the Israeli Air Force launched massive airstrikes in the city of Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip.
According to the IDF spokesman Daniel Hagari, more than 50 targets were struck. According to him, the targets included ‘facilities belonging to terrorist groups in the Rafah area’. The representative of the Israeli army added that the strikes were carried out amid the preparations for a military operation in the eastern part of Rafah.
Amid the ongoing airstrikes, the IDF reportedly launched a ground operation in Rafah. Armored vehicles are approaching the city, while Israeli tanks broke through the Gaza border fence. The forces of the IDF’s 401st Armored Brigade, supported by the Givati and Nahal infantry brigades, reportedly entered the eastern part of Rafah.
Netanyahu’s Office reported: “The War Cabinet has unanimously decided that Israel is continuing the Rafah operation in order to put military pressure on Hamas to speed up the release of our hostages and achieve other goals of the war.”
Rafah is the last major settlement full of refugees from all over the Gaza Strip. According to the Israeli side, there are large units of the Hamas military in the city.
The Israeli aircraft have been hitting the city since the morning, as well as scattering leaflets addressed to the civilian population, calling for them to leave.
Israel launched the attack on Rafah after the head of the political bureau of the Palestinian Hamas movement announced his readiness to accept the truce in the Gaza Strip. He declared his decision in a telephone conversation with the Prime Minister of Qatar and the head of the Egyptian General Intelligence Service. Qatar and Egypt mediate negotiations between Hamas and Israel. An Israeli official said the proposal that Hamas had accepted was a ‘softened’ version of an Egyptian proposal, which included ‘far-reaching’ conclusions that Israel could not accept.
