Israel plans to deploy additional troops to help operations against Hamas in Rafah, Israeli Foreign Minister Yoav Gallant announced Thursday.
Gallant said Israeli operations have already succeeded in destroying several Hamas tunnels in the region. The troop deployment comes as President Biden warned that the United States would withhold military aid if Israel pursues a large-scale operation in Gaza.
“This operation will continue as additional forces arrive. Several tunnels in the area have been destroyed by our troops and more tunnels will be destroyed soon. This activity will intensify,” Gallant said. “Hamas is not an organization capable of reorganizing itself, it has no reserve troops, it has no supply stocks and no capacity to deal with the terrorists we target. The result is that we are depleting Hamas.”
Israel began to intensify its attacks in both Rafah and northern Gaza earlier this week. Israel Defense Forces (IDF) troops secured a Hamas training ground in eastern Rafah on Wednesday, recovering tons of equipment and vehicles that Hamas had used to simulate combat with Israeli forces.
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Israel plans to deploy additional troops to help operations against Hamas in Rafah, Israeli Foreign Minister Yoav Gallant, left, announced Thursday. (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)
Biden issued the ultimatum on Rafah operations last week, but he also approved $18 billion in funding for Israel.
Israel has so far refrained from an all-out attack, resorting to more precise strikes. However, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu promised that the IDF would eliminate Hamas from Rafah.
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Israel has so far refrained from a widespread attack on Rafah, resorting to more precise strikes. (AP Photo/Ohad Zwigenberg)
Rafah is home to around 1.5 million displaced Palestinians, most of whom fled northern Gaza. Israel, however, says the city is also the last major Hamas stronghold in the region.
The Biden administration has offered to share information on the leadership of Hamas with Israel in exchange for restraint in Rafah earlier this week, according to a Washington Post report.
Rafah is home to around 1.5 million displaced Palestinians, most of whom fled northern Gaza. Israel, however, says the city is also the last major Hamas stronghold in the region.
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The intelligence provided by the United States would apparently allow Israel to better identify Hamas leaders hiding in the tunnels around the city, allowing the Israeli military to engage in a more precise campaign that could avoid the devastation observed in other areas of Gaza throughout the conflict.
