Israel listens to US concerns before invading Rafah | War Israel and Hamas

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas says only the United States can prevent Israel from attacking Rafah. He said this on Sunday at a meeting of the World Economic Forum (WEF) in the Saudi capital Riyadh.

“We call on the United States to ask Israel not to continue the Rafah attack. America is the only country that can prevent Israel from committing this crime,” the Palestinian president said.

Abbas expects Israel to attack the city in the coming days. That would mean “the greatest disaster in the history of the Palestinian people,” he said.

Israel has been threatening to attack Rafah for weeks. According to the country, this is necessary because there are still Hamas fighters there that Israel wants to eliminate. The West is concerned about a possible attack. The United States, Israel’s largest ally, is also doing everything it can to prevent a ground offensive.

The United States has now persuaded Israel to first listen to their concerns before deciding whether or not to invade the country. White House national security spokesman John Kirby said Sunday.

The US has said Washington will not support an attack on Rafah without an appropriate and credible humanitarian plan. Rafah is a crucial city for delivering aid to Palestinians in the Gaza Strip. Moreover, since the war between Israel and Hamas, huge numbers of refugees have moved there.

“They have assured us that they will not enter Rafah until we have had a chance to really share our perspectives and concerns with them,” Kirby said.

In addition, according to Kirby, the US continues to push for a temporary ceasefire for at least six weeks. “We hope that after a six-week temporary ceasefire we can achieve something more sustainable.”

There is currently talk in Egypt about a new ceasefire and the release of some of the hostages. Hamas will send a delegation to the Egyptian capital Cairo on Monday for negotiations, an anonymous source told the news agency Reuters.

News site Axios previously reported, citing two Israeli sources, that Israel’s latest proposal states that the country is willing to discuss the “restoration of lasting peace” in Gaza once all hostages are released.

So far, Israel has been unwilling to discuss a permanent ceasefire. The government wanted to achieve all its goals first, including the end of Hamas.

But Israeli officials also reportedly told Egypt on Friday that the country is giving negotiations with Hamas “one last chance.” If a deal is not reached soon, the government will continue with their invasion of Rafah.

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A number of ministers in Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government do not want the attack on Rafah to be called off. Far-right Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich warned on Sunday that he will topple Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government if that happens.

A truce, according to Smotrich, is a “humiliating capitulation and grants the Nazis a victory at the expense of hundreds of heroic soldiers who died in battle,” he wrote on social media. The minister regularly calls Hamas Nazis.

If Netanyahu revokes the order to invade Rafah, the government under his leadership will “no longer have a right to exist,” Smotrich said. The Minister of National Security joined Smotrich on Sunday. On

The Israeli military said on Sunday that the amount of humanitarian aid to Gaza would be scaled up in the coming days.

In addition, World Central Kitchen (WCK) resumes its activities in Gaza. In early April, WCK lost seven employees to an Israeli airstrike on an aid convoy. But according to the humanitarian aid organization, the situation in Gaza remains “dire”.

“To date, we have distributed more than 43 million meals and we are eager to deliver millions more,” said the organization, which operates from Cyprus.

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