Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has vowed to go ahead with a long-promised assault on Rafah, the southernmost city in the Gaza Strip, whatever the response by Hamas to the latest proposals for a halt to the fighting and a return of Israeli hostages. Expectations that a ceasefire agreement could be in sight have grown in recent days followed by a renewed push by Egypt to revive stalled negotiations between Israel and Hamas.
However, so far there had been little sign of agreement on the most fundamental difference between the two sides. Meanwhile the International Criminal Court (ICC) has underlined fears in Israel of growing isolation over the fight in Gaza. Most of Gaza’s 2.3 million people have been displaced so far.
Israeli PM Netanyahu pledged on April 30, 2024, to launch an incursion into the southern Gaza city of Rafah Netanyahu said Israel would enter Rafah, which according to the Jewish nation is the last stronghold of Hamas regardless of whether a truce for hostages is struck or not. His comments appeared to be meant to appease his nationalist governing partners but it was not clear whether they would have any bearing on any deals with Hamas.
The United Nations has warned Israeli assault on Rafah in Gaza Strip was on the immediate horizon and that the incremental progress by Israel on aid access to the enclave court could not be used to prepare or justify an operation. UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres appealed for states with influence over Israel to everything in power to prevent an Israeli assault on Rafah.
The United States Secertary of State Antony Blinken, arrived in Israel on April 30, 2024, for talks with Netanyahu and other officials. Blinken said he would discuss with Netanyahu measures that Israel still needs to take to increase the flow on supplies and aid in Gaza Efforts have been intensifying to reach a truce and hostage deal meant to free hostages.
Netanyahu has accused the International Criminal Court (ICC) in the Hague of trying to prevent Israel from defending itself from terrorism amid reports that the UN Court could arrest top Israeli officials, including him.
In a video statement Netanyahu said “Eighty years after the Holocaust, the international bodies that were to prevent another Holocaust are considering denying the Jewish state the right to defend itself against those who come to genocide against us and are still actively working to do so. What an absurdity, what a distortion of justice and history.”
An Israeli delegation arrived in Cairo for a brief urgent visit to get word of the latest discussions conducted between Egyptian mediators and Hamas regarding a possible hostage deal, an Israeli media agency cited a London based Arab newspaper. The report suggested that Israelis provided Hamas with a paper with amendments to Israel’s latest truce proposal which the US and UK have described as extraordinarily generous.
