A member of Israel’s war cabinet has said the country will launch its threatened ground offensive against Rafah, the last place of relative safety in Gaza, if Hamas does not release its remaining Israeli hostages by the beginning of the holy Muslim month of Ramadan in just under three weeks.

“The world must know, and Hamas leaders must know – if by Ramadan our hostages are not home, the fighting will continue everywhere, including the Rafah area,” Benny Gantz, a retired Israel Defense Forces (IDF) chief of staff, told a conference of American Jewish leaders in Jerusalem on Sunday.

As Israeli forces have expanded ground operations steadily southwards in their war against Hamas over the past four months, Rafah – situated on the border with Egypt, and before the conflict home to about 280,000 people – has become the last refuge for more than half of the strip’s population of 2.3 million.

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  • @fastandcurious
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    9 months ago

    Palestinians were already suffering before hamas fucked up, Israel was just trying to hide it before OCT 7, now they have an excuse so they don’t need to hide it anymore, also why doesn’t Israel agree to the hostage deals and continue to reject ceasefires proposed by hamas?

    So to summarize:-

    -Hamas very bad

    -IDF much more very bad

    -IDF would kill and genocide even if no Hamas

    • FaceDeer
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      69 months ago

      If Hamas didn’t exist then I’m sure that Israel would find some way to invent them.

      • @Maalus
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        109 months ago

        They literally invented them. They propped them up with cash.