An ultimatum, delivered by one of the most civilized ministers in the Israeli war cabinet.
Centrist Benny Gantz, a member of Benjamin Netanyahu's war cabinet, warned on Sunday that Israel would launch its offensive against the city of Rafah if Israeli hostages held in Gaza were not released by Ramadan.
“The world must know and Hamas leaders must know: if by Ramadan, the hostages are not at home, the fighting will continue everywhere, including in the Rafah region,” said the former head of Hamas. the Israeli army.
“To those who say the price is too high, I say clearly: Hamas has a choice.
They can surrender, free the hostages and the civilians of Gaza will thus be able to celebrate the holiday of Ramadan,” he added in a speech to the Conference of Presidents of the Main American Jewish Organizations, meeting in Jerusalem.
Ramadan, the holy month of Muslims, begins around March 10.
Benny Gantz affirmed that an offensive would be carried out, in a coordinated manner and within the framework of a dialogue with the Americans and Egyptians, “by facilitating the evacuation of civilians” to minimize “as much as possible” the number of victims in their ranks. .
On Sunday, in a joint statement with Emmanuel Macron, Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah al-Sissi reiterated his opposition to any attack on Rafah.
On Saturday, the Egyptian Minister of Foreign Affairs declared that the displacement of the Palestinians remained unacceptable but that if this were to be the case, Cairo would act with “humanity”.
“We do not intend to provide safe areas or facilities (to Palestinian civilians, editor's note), but if this were the case, we will show the necessary humanity,” assured Sameh Choukry during the conference on the security of Munich.
Warning from Egypt
Despite calls from part of the international community, frightened by the humanitarian situation in the Palestinian enclave, and the colossal number of victims, the government of Benjamin Netanyahu is determined to launch an offensive against the city of Rafah, backed by Egypt's closed border, where 1.4 million people are now crowded together in very difficult conditions.
Also read: “Gaza is a funnel”: why the evacuation of Palestinian civilians seems like a mission impossible
Egypt has repeatedly sounded the alarm over the possibility that Israel's devastating offensive on Gaza could displace Palestinians towards the Sinai - which Cairo said would be completely unacceptable - echoing warnings from Arab states like Jordan which refuse to allow the Jewish state to evacuate the Palestinian question by parking the inhabitants in huge refugee camps far from its territory.
Rafah and the town of Khan Younes, a few kilometers away, as well as other areas of Palestinian territory were the target of Israeli bombings which left 127 dead in 24 hours, the Hamas Ministry of Health said on Sunday.
The Nasser Hospital in Khan Yunis, the second largest hospital in the Gaza Strip, was taken out of service, according to ministry spokesperson Ashraf al-Qidra.
The Israeli military said in a statement that hundreds of militants were hiding inside and some had posed as medical personnel.
He released images of weapons he said were found as well as medicines transferred from Israel and intended for the more than 100 hostages kidnapped in Israel.
“The packages of medicines discovered were sealed and had not been given to the hostages,” the army accused.
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“If I leave here, I will leave as a corpse”: Palestinians trapped in the final refuge of Rafah
Hamas rejects the Israeli allegations, saying they serve as a pretext to destroy the health system.
According to al-Qidra, the hospital now only has four medical teams, or 25 people, trying to treat patients without electricity.