Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu assured that will give “safe passage for civilians” before the assault on the southern Gaza city of Rafah, and rejected fears of a “catastrophe”in a television interview broadcast on Sunday.
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Faced with international alarm over potential carnage in the city where there are more than a million displaced Palestinians, Netanyahu affirmed that the offensive is key to crushing Hamas.
(You can read: Moving letter from a Colombian whose husband was kidnapped by Hamas)
“Victory is within reach. We are going to do it. We are going to finish off the remaining Hamas terrorist battalions and Rafah, which is the last bastion,” he said in the interview with ABC News.
“We are going to do it while giving safe passage to the civilian population so that they can leave,” he added. “We are working on a detailed plan to do this,” explained the Israeli prime minister.
(You can read: This is the life of an Israeli teacher after being kidnapped by Hamas)
Palestinians flee the bombings.
Victory is within reach. Let's do it. We are going to destroy the remaining Hamas terrorist battalions and Rafah, which is the last bastion.
He mentioned areas of northern Rafah that have been cleared and could be used as safe zones for civilians.
Hamas warned of the possibility of “tens of thousands” of victims in Rafah.
The head of European diplomacy, Josep Borrell, stated that an offensive in that place “would cause an indescribable humanitarian catastrophe.”
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The United States, Israel's main backer, has said that does not support a ground offensive in Rafah and warned that if not properly planned, such an operation risks being a “disaster”.
“Those who say that we should not enter Rafah under any circumstances are basically saying: 'lose the war, leave Hamas there,” Netanyahu claimed.
Netanyahu's figures
The Ministry of Health in Gaza says the massive Israeli offensive in response to the October 7 attacks has left at least 28,064 dead, most of them women and children. However, Netanyahu told ABC News that the number of civilians, compared to the total deaths, is much lower.
“I can say that according to our urban warfare experts and other analysts, we have reduced the ratio of terrorists to civilian casualties to less than 1 to 1 (…) and we will do more.”
(You can read: Netanyahu asks the Israeli army for a plan to evacuate civilians from Rafah, southern Gaza)
The prime minister noted that Israeli forces have “killed and wounded more than 20,000 Hamas terrorists, including 12,000 combatants.” He did not specify the difference between “terrorists” and “combatants.”
The last time Israel gave an assessment of the conflict was on January 9, when it announced that around 9,000 Hamas fighters had been killed.
Men walk through Rafah after the bombings.
US President Joe Biden made his harshest criticism yet of Israel on Thursday, calling the Israeli response to the Hamas attack on its territory “excessive.”
(You can read: Israel bombs Rafah and Biden criticizes an 'excessive' operation)
About it, Netanyahu said he appreciated Biden's “support for Israel since the beginning of the war” but did not “understand what exactly he meant by that statement.”.
The violent incursion by Hamas on October 7 resulted in the deaths of some 1,160 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP assessment based on official Israeli data.
AFP
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