Netanyahu says Israel will enter Rafah anyway – claims civilians are being evacuated

– It is not an option to end the war without having achieved our goals, says Netanyahu.

He also claims according to several Israeli media, including Ynet that Israel has begun evacuating civilians from the city, which is the last major city in Gaza where Israel has not launched a ground invasion.

Hamas has received a proposal that will involve a truce for 40 days if all Hamas hostages in Gaza are released. The US describes the offer as “generous” and asks Hamas to accept the agreement immediately. But Netanyahu now denies that a ceasefire will be the end of the war.

– Israel enters Rafah to eliminate Hamas, with or without a ceasefire and hostage agreement.

Hamas demands guarantees

According to the Israeli newspaper Haaretz however, Hamas is demanding guarantees that Israel will not attack Gaza in the coming months as a condition for finalizing a deal.

– We want the Palestinians in Gaza to live. That means the end of the war, Israeli withdrawal, reconstruction of the Gaza Strip and a clear political outline, a source in Hamas told Haaretz.

USA presser Hamas

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken is currently on a new tour of the Middle East, and he will meet Netanyahu on Wednesday. On Tuesday, he avoided answering questions about Netanyahu’s Rafah move. Instead, he stuck to the message that US attention is focused on the ceasefire and hostage agreement. That ball is now in Hamas’s court, and they should say yes straight away, according to Blinken

– No more postponements, no more excuses. The time for action is now, says Blinken.

– We want this to be in place in the coming days, he says.

On Tuesday, an Israeli official reports that the country’s government will wait until Wednesday evening for a response from Hamas. Depending on the answer, Israel may send a delegation to Cairo.

– Israel will make a decision as soon as Hamas delivers an answer, says the person.

New bomb drones

Although foot soldiers and vehicles have not invaded Rafah, the Palestinians in the area have become accustomed to the sound of drones. On Tuesday, there were new reports of airstrikes in the area. A large number of Palestinians are crowded together in Rafah.

At al Abu Yousef al-Najjar hospital, distraught people are grieving over slain relatives.

– We demand that the whole world asks for a lasting ceasefire, says one of those who have lost loved ones to the AFP news agency.

The Israeli military reports on Tuesday that “warplanes hit a number of terrorist targets in central Gaza”.

Israel’s goal is fixed

No matter what happens, Israel’s goals with the war will remain the same, according to Netanyahu: wipe out Hamas, release all hostages and create security for Israelis.

What the international community, the UN and the Palestinians themselves think, does not seem to make an impression on the prime minister. Not even an upcoming verdict in the International Criminal Court (ICC) will have anything to say, he claims on Tuesday.

– I want to make one thing clear: No ruling, neither in The Hague nor anywhere else, will have an impact on our unwavering conviction to achieve all the goals of the war, says Netanyahu.