Why Israel Is So Determined To Invade Rafah
HuffPost
Israel is determined to launch a ground offensive against Hamas in Gaza's southernmost city, raising global alarm due to the likely massive civilian harm.
JERUSALEM (AP) — Israel is determined to launch a ground offensive against Hamas in Rafah, Gaza’s southernmost city, a plan that has raised global alarm because of the potential for harm to the hundreds of thousands of civilians sheltering there.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says Israel can’t achieve its goal of “total victory” against Hamas without going into Rafah.
Israel has approved military plans for its offensive. But with 1.4 million Palestinians jammed into the city, Israel’s allies, including the U.S., have demanded greater care for civilians in its anticipated incursion.
Most of those Palestinians have been displaced by fighting in other parts of Gaza and are living in densely packed tent camps, overflowing U.N.-run shelters or packed apartments.
Netanyahu is sending a delegation to Washington to present the administration with its plans.
“Europe’s future does not have to be decided in Washington or Moscow," French President Emmanuel Macron said.
The Israeli prime minister threw a tantrum over demands to establish an investigative commission on Hamas' attack.
The meeting in Cairo comes as Israel blocks all aid from entering the Palestinian territory to get Hamas to accept an alternative ceasefire proposal by the U.S.
Human rights groups stress that weaponizing starvation by intentionally depriving civilians of lifesaving aid is a war crime under international humanitarian law.
The pope, in a message shared by the Vatican, thanked his doctors for their care and well-wishers for their prayers as he remains in the hospital.
The encounter left the future of the U.S.-Ukraine relationship, and Kyiv’s ability to defend itself in the brutal conflict with Russia, in mortal jeopardy.
Doctors said it would take a day or two to evaluate how and if the episode impacted Francis’ overall clinical condition.
Soon after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy left the White House after an astonishing Oval Office blowout with President Donald Trump, Ukrainians rallied around Zelenskyy as a defender of his country's interests.