An Arab newspaper claims that the US has given the green light to the invasion to avoid a large-scale attack against Iran
The possible invasion of Rafah, in the south of Gaza, is being confirmed as the bargaining chip with which the United States tries to limit Israel's response to the Iranian attack last Saturday, judging by what was published this Wednesday by the Arab newspaper Al Araby Al Jadeed. This publication published in London cites an Egyptian source who assures that the Joe Biden Administration has accepted the Israeli plan to invade Rafah, in exchange for the Jewish State not carrying out a large-scale attack against Iran. Washington fears that an Israeli retaliation on that country's territory will trigger a massive war in the Middle East into which it may be dragged.
Some movements by the Israeli army suggest that preparations for this ground offensive on Rafah are already underway. Israel has deployed artillery units and armored personnel carriers along the Gaza borders, the Israeli newspaper said Ma'ariv . “The broad lines of this operation” have been approved by the General Staff and by the Minister of Defense, Yoav Gallant, the media states.
The Israeli army had confirmed the day before the purchase of 40,000 tents, with capacity for 12 people each, which could house more than 400,000 of the 1.4 million displaced people in the Gazan city. Rafah is the only city in the territory where Israeli ground troops have not yet entered, although the city suffers constant bombing, although not with as much intensity as the practically devastated northern Gaza. Israel maintains that Hamas leaders are now hiding in Rafah.
Ten days ago, the Israeli army withdrew all its troops from the south of the Strip, but not without cooling the prospects for a de-escalation, stating that the measure was due to the need for these soldiers to rest for “future operations.” This week, Gaza residents have claimed that the Israeli military has returned to areas from which they had previously withdrawn, in the center and northern region of the Palestinian territory.
Before the Iranian attack on Israel, the United States had conditioned its green light for an invasion of Rafah on a credible plan to evacuate civilians. NGOs then warned that the entry of Israeli troops into the southern city could lead to a huge massacre.
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