Netanyahu Calls for Reserve Troops Mobilization for Rafah Military Operation Amid Global Warnings
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu urged the mobilization of reserve soldiers in preparation for launching a ground military operation in the city of Rafah in southern Gaza Strip. Meanwhile, Egypt threatened to suspend the peace treaty. with Israel if the operation is carried out, according to Israeli media reports.
According to Israeli press, Netanyahu asked the Chief of the Occupation Army, Hertzi Halevy, on Saturday to mobilize reserve soldiers for a military operation in Rafah.
Israeli Channel 13 reported that Netanyahu instructed Halevy to re-mobilize the reserve forces that had been released in preparation for the potential operation by the Israeli army in Rafah.
The channel cited sources saying that the army has been awaiting political approval for about two weeks to launch the attack on Rafah.
In response, Halevy stated that the army would be able to handle any task, but there are political aspects that must be addressed first, according to the same source.
Channel 13 reported on disagreements between Netanyahu and the Chief of Staff regarding the Rafah operation. It added that Netanyahu intends to hold the security establishment responsible for delaying the military operation in Rafah.
On the other hand, a senior Israeli official told the same channel that “the operation in Rafah is approaching.” International estimates indicate that there are between 1.2 and 1.4 million Palestinians in Rafah after the Occupation Army forced hundreds of thousands of Palestinians north of the Gaza Strip to evacuate to the south.
Israel began airstrikes on Rafah resulting in casualties and injuries. Netanyahu had instructed the army last Friday to prepare an “evacuation plan” for civilians in Rafah amid growing international fears of a possible attack on the city located on the border with Egypt.
Saudi Warning
In response to the impending operation, the Saudi Foreign Ministry issued a statement on Saturday “warning of the extremely dangerous consequences of invading and targeting the city of Rafah.”
It considered that “this insistence on violating international law and international humanitarian law underscores the urgent need for the United Nations Security Council. to convene promptly to prevent Israel from causing an imminent humanitarian catastrophe for which anyone supporting the aggression would be responsible.”
Similarly, the US State Department warned this week that “conducting a similar operation now (in Rafah), without planning and with little thought, in an area inhabited by a million people would be a disaster.”
In a rare implicit criticism of Israel, US President Joe Biden stated this week that “the response in Gaza is excessive,” affirming that efforts have been made since the start of the war to alleviate its impact on civilians.
French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian emphasized that while the shock of the Israelis is real after October 7th of last year, the situation in Gaza is unjustified.
British Foreign Secretary David Cameron expressed deep concern over the possibility of a military attack on Rafah.
The Dutch Foreign Minister stated that “the situation in the Rafah area is extremely disturbing, and we do not see any results of the operations there without a larger humanitarian catastrophe.”
Egyptian Threat
In the same context, Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry stated that the expansion of the Israeli military operation would have serious consequences, warning against any further escalation.
He added, in a joint press conference with his Bulgarian counterpart Maria Gabriel in the Egyptian capital, that the humanitarian situation in Gaza cannot tolerate more destruction and casualties.
Additionally, the official Israeli broadcasting authority reported that Egypt had threatened Israel with suspending the peace treaty between the two parties if its army moved on the ground in Rafah.
On March 26, 1979, Egypt and Israel signed a peace treaty in Washington following the Camp David Accords. agreement between the two sides in 1978.
Key provisions of the treaty included the cessation of war, normalization of relations, complete withdrawal of Israel’s armed forces and civilians from the Sinai Peninsula, and keeping the region demilitarized.
The Israeli broadcasting authority quoted the American “Wall Street Journal” newspaper as saying that Cairo also issued a warning to the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas), stating that it must reach a prisoner exchange deal within two weeks, or else Israel would continue its ground operation in the sector.
It noted that Egypt has intensified its defenses along the border with fences, cameras, monitoring towers, and sensor devices.
Since October 7th of last year, the Occupation Army has been waging a destructive war on Gaza, resulting in over 28,000 martyrs, most of them women and children, and around 70,000 wounded, in addition to the destruction of cities in the sector and the displacement and starvation of its inhabitants.
