The Israeli Prime Minister has no intention of being thwarted in his battle plans.
Benjamin Netanyahu assured Saturday evening that the Israeli army must carry out its operation in the town of Rafah, where around 1.4 million Palestinians are crowded in southern Gaza, otherwise it will “lose the war” against Hamas .
During a press conference held in Jerusalem, “Bibi” also affirmed that the IDF would carry out its operation in Rafah even in the event of an agreement with the Palestinian Islamist movement for the release of hostages still held in the Gaza Strip.
Hamas threatens to suspend negotiations
For its part, Hamas threatened on Saturday evening to leave the truce talks if additional aid was not quickly delivered to the Gaza Strip, including in the north of the territory threatened by famine.
“Negotiations cannot take place as long as hunger consumes the Palestinian people.
The movement intends to suspend negotiations until aid is provided to northern Gaza,” a Hamas “leader” said in a statement broadcast by al-Aqsa, the movement’s channel.
Questioned by AFP, a senior official of the Palestinian Islamist movement requesting anonymity confirmed "that the Egyptian and Qatari mediators had been informed of Hamas's intention to suspend negotiations until aid was provided in the Gaza Strip, including the north.
Complex negotiations regarding a truce in the fighting, the release of hostages held in Gaza and Palestinian prisoners imprisoned by Israel, are continuing through the mediating countries, Egypt, Qatar and the United States.
Hamas insists, among other things, on a “total ceasefire” and the withdrawal of Israeli forces from the Gaza Strip.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, whose war in Gaza aims to “annihilate” the Islamist movement, refuses at this stage Hamas's demands and speaks of a pause in the fighting rather than an end to hostilities.