Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has ordered troops to prepare to enter the overcrowded Gazan city of Rafah, even as a new round of talks aimed at securing a truce with Hamas were set to open Thursday in Cairo.
Netanyahu announced the order after rejecting Hamas’s response to a ceasefire proposal at the centre of intense recent diplomatic efforts, though visiting US Secretary of State Antony Blinken insisted on Wednesday that he still saw “space for agreement to be reached”.
Concerns were mounting, meanwhile, for the hundreds of thousands of Palestinians who have sought refuge in Rafah along the Egyptian border, with UN chief Antonio Guterres warning a military push into the city “would exponentially increase what is already a humanitarian nightmare”.
In televised remarks Wednesday, Netanyahu said he had ordered troops to “prepare to operate” in the city and that “total victory” over Hamas was just months away.
Regarding the ceasefire proposal, he added: “Giving in to the bizarre demands of Hamas that we have just heard will… only invite another massacre.”
Blinken, who is on yet another trip to the region to press for a truce, told reporters in Tel Aviv that Hamas’s counter-proposal at least offered an opportunity “to pursue negotiations”.
“While there are some clear non-starters in Hamas’s response, we do think it creates space for agreement to be reached, and we will work at that relentlessly until we get there,” Blinken said, hours after meeting Netanyahu.
More talks –
A new round of negotiations aimed at achieving “calm” in Gaza and a prisoner-hostage exchange was set to open Thursday in Cairo, an Egyptian official said.
Cairo was urging “both parties to show the necessary flexibility” to make a deal, the official added, speaking on condition of anonymity.
A Hamas source with knowledge of the matter confirmed that the Palestinian group had agreed to the talks with the goals of “a ceasefire, an end to the war and a prisoner exchange deal”.
The ministry said Thursday morning that another 109 people had been killed in overnight strikes.
Militants also seized around 250 hostages on October 7. Israel says 132 remain in Gaza, of whom 29 are believed to have died.
The fate of the hostages has gripped Israeli society, and while Netanyahu has repeatedly insisted that military pressure is the only way to bring them home, he has faced mounting calls to strike a deal.
( Source AFP)
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