In a unanimous decision by the War Cabinet, Israel decided to move forward this Monday (6) with a military operation in the city of Rafah, in the Gaza Strip, with the aim of putting pressure on the terrorist group Hamas.
The move comes hours after Palestinian terrorists said they had accepted a truce proposal, which Israel said “does not meet” its “essential demands.”
Israel’s Prime Minister’s Office said in a statement that the Rafah offensive serves to “apply military pressure on Hamas in order to make progress on the hostage release and other war aims.”
Despite approving a military advance on the site, which is currently home to more than 1 million Palestinians, Israel said it will send its representatives to continue negotiating an agreement that “satisfies its demands”.
Moments after the statement was released, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said it was already carrying out strikes and operations against Hamas targets “in a targeted manner” in eastern Rafah. The Israeli military had already asked for civilians to be evacuated from the areas that would be attacked.
Earlier, the agency Reuters released information stating that several family members of hostages kidnapped by Hamas held a small protest in Israel asking the government to agree to the truce.
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