Israeli war cabinet approves expansion of Rafah operation in Gaza • FRANCE 24 English

Israeli war cabinet approves expansion of Rafah operation in Gaza • FRANCE 24 English

we begin in Gaza in the southern city of Rafa where around 110,000 Palestinians are reported to have fled since Monday when they were warned to evacuate by the IDF military ahead of quote a direct targeted operation the effects of which would lead to President Biden pausing a shipment of military aid to Israel and signals to the Israeli government if it goes ahead with a major offensive some weapon shipments will be stopped on Benjamin netanyahu’s response if we have to stand alone we will stand alone if we need to we will fight with our fingernails this afternoon there are reports that Israel is planning an extended offensive in Rafa Let’s cross to Jerusalem let’s bring in Iris macka our correspondent there Iris good to talk to you good to see you this evening tell us about the reports this ex extended operation and what it could mean extended operation or and I’m quoting measured expansion it’s not exactly clear what it could mean because the warning from Washington was stuck uh and it came from high level officials and then it came from the president himself so it is stuck and what I guess um Israeli politicians are trying to do is to have some kind of expanded operation in Rafa without infringing on the red line uh that President Biden set which was he said no major offensive in Rafa he won’t support that he won’t help that uh so is this measured expansion going to um cross that red line it definitely risks it doesn’t it just by definition so what we’re hearing is uh Israel taking a risk taking some action uh and at the same time um instructing that the negotiations for a ceasefire deal continue even though some of the people um some of the parties have already left Cairo so how exactly they to continue I’m not quite clear but that the the two things go hand inand an expanded operation in Israeli strategic terms that is and some kind of continuation of the uh negotiations for a hostage deal under ceasefire to try to understand what’s going on right now in RF of the humanitarian U situation for civilians in terms of the fighting operations being reported what’s your understanding of what’s going on right now what we’re hearing from sources inside the Gaza Strip is first of all that that the PE that there is an expansion Israeli tank have moved further into the city on the Eastern side so they haven’t gone way into the city they’re still surrounding the city from the south and the East moving up around it uh to the Northeast as well and we have heard from Palestinian sources inside that there is constant gunfire and explosions and that explains why uh there’s something between 110,000 people who fled since Monday or 150,000 110,000 is the unra assessment estimate 150,000 is what the IDF says um but what unra goes on to say is these people who have fled on Israeli instructions are going to in looking for a safer place but they stress there is nowhere that is really safe in Gaza we have seen renewed Fighting by the way gav in the north as well uh in an area the IDF had uh cleared um gone away from and now returned to and we saw Four soldiers four Israeli soldiers dying there in a fight with Hamas and and that fight that was an IED and unexploded a roadside bomb uh that killed them and we’ve seen um Rockets being fired as far as Beva a city in southern Israel but one that is not within the usual range so Hamas keeping its rocket fire showing it’s still in the game and I think Hamas quite concerned about Rafa actually what about the leader of Hamas Iris Yayo Simo is is there a suggestion that he is somewhere still Within a tunnel somewhere in Rafa that was the suggestion originally there’s no doubt Rafa is very important to Hamas because it contains uh the one border crossing to the outside world and then underneath it tunnels to the outside world that’s where most of the goods that built all these um extensive network of tunnels that’s where they came in from so I think that is important uh to Hamas is yya Sinar there is he on the move you know was he in hunas now he’s moved to now he’s moved back to kanun now that Israeli soldiers have retreated you know no one knows that network of tunnels better than those people who built it there is a suggestion that he might have gone out you know in into Egypt into the tunnels underneath there but the best information appears to be that he still is in the Gaza Strip uh and interestingly that’s been confirmed by one of the hostages who was released early in the piece very early in the piece actually after about two weeks and she said she actually saw him and he said to her he came into the tunnel where they were being held and he said to her do you know who I am and she said yes you’re yya sinir H and she began to berate him for the action of October the 7th very brave uh because she said to him we are the peacemakers we who live in the south of the country we the people who believe in a solution we’ve always um held our hands out to you and this was no this was no way to repay us so a very brave woman and we do know that that means that early on yya sinara was uh still under still in the Gaza Strip I’d say he probably still is if he left it would feel I think to the rest of the people who are fighting for him that he wasn’t there leader anymore it’s an incredible story IR is thank you a correspondent in Jerusalem

Israel’s security cabinet approved a “measured expansion” of ​​Israeli forces’ operation in Rafah in a Thursday night vote even as it instructed its negotiators to continue efforts to reach a hostage deal, Axios reported on Friday, citing unnamed sources. More information with FRANCE 24 correpondent in Jerusalem, Irris Makler.
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