The Israeli prime minister has foreign and domestic pressure to accept a ceasefire deal, but he may be set to make the bloodiest decision of the war to date in the southern Gaza city of Rafah.
Tag: ground offensive
Despite talk of a smaller impact, Israel is prolonging its war on Gaza with more bombing campaigns that regularly kill civilians. The daily slaughter continues as the international community and Middle East have been focused on the growing tensions between Israel and Iran.
Rafah has become, by far, the largest concentration of displaced people in Gaza. Now Israel is threatening to invade the city, sending waves of desperation among 1.4 million people there. It’s simple: There’s nowhere else to go.
Secretary of State Blinken is traveling back to Israel with a more explicit message for Netanyahu after President Biden said late Wednesday it’s time for a “pause” right now. Meanwhile, Israel shows no signs of letting up its ground and air assault on Gaza.
As outrage spreads over the civilian casualties in Tuesday night’s bombing, Israel justifies the strike as necessary to eliminate Hamas leaders, including at least one suspected mastermind of the Oct. 7 attack.
Death count rises above 100 in the West Bank, as sources reports weapons flooding in through Iran.
A Hamas delegation arrived in Russia, as Putin warns Israel that the war could spread beyond the Middle East.
While everyone acknowledges the civilian toll is climbing in Gaza, a new doubt has begun to spread in recent days about the reliability of the death counts given by Gaza’s government, which is run by Hamas. U.S. President Joe Biden now says he doesn’t believe the numbers at all, which has set off criticism about his lack of both sources and “empathy.”
The Hamas attacks leave Israel with no choice but to launch a ground offensive in Gaza. This is the only way Jerusalem can truly debilitate the terrorist organization. And so a race against time begins with any such assault, as casualties would be high, international support will weaken, and the question of the ultimate “end game” lurks behind.
The Israeli army has secured its own territory, and is now focused on what all believe is an impending ground assault into Gaza. The ground war now appears more a question of when rather than if.