The Israeli Defence Forces Chief of Staff, Herzi Halevi has approved plans for a major operation in Rafah, the IDF said on Sunday.
Halevi approved plans for the continuation of the war in a meeting on Sunday with Southern Command chief Maj. Gen. Yaron Finkelman and the other division and brigade commanders of the Southern Command.
The approval comes as Hamas negotiators in Cairo consider an Israeli proposal to postpone or forgo such an operation, which Prime Minister Netanyahu approved weeks ago, in exchange for a ceasefire and the release of some hostages.
It also comes as the International Criminal Court reportedly considers issuing arrest warrants for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, and Halevi, a decision that could be affected by Israel’s actions in southern Gaza.
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Meanwhile, responsibility for the central corridor of the Gaza Strip was given to reservist combat teams from the Yiftach and Carmeli Brigade this week, the IDF said, “carrying out targeted raids to eliminate terrorists and locate and destroy terrorist infrastructure in the area.”
“The raids are taking place while protecting the corridor in the center of the Gaza Strip and carrying out actions that will allow the transfer of humanitarian aid,” the statement added.
Southern Command chief Maj. Gen. Yaron Finkelman and 99th Division commander Maj. Gen. Barak Hiram held a situation assessment in the field on Friday, the IDF said, adding that new operational plans for continued fighting were approved.
Ministers threaten to withdraw from coalition over govt’s next move
The possibility of a choice between invading Rafah and agreeing to a hostage deal brought fiery statements from leaders of the Israeli right, who threatened to withdraw from the coalition if a deal was made in place of a Rafah operation, and leaders of the Israeli center and left, who insisted that a hostage deal must take priority.
“Agreeing to the Egyptian deal would be a humiliating surrender,” said Finance Minister Betzalel Smotrich, of Religious Zionism, “handing over victory to Nazis on the backs of hundreds of heroic IDF combat soldiers that have fallen in battle.”
Smotrich threatened to withdraw from the coalition government if Prime Minister Netanyahu should agree to a deal. “If you agree to wave a white flag and cancel the plans to immediately enter Rafah,” he said, “a government under your leadership will have no right to exist.” National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir echoed this threat.
Minister-without-portfolio Benny Gantz, who sits alongside Netanyahu in the war cabinet, responded to Smotrich’s threat, writing on X: “Entering Rafah is important in the long struggle against Hamas, [but] the return of our hostages, who were abandoned by the October 7 government, is urgent and of far greater importance.”
If the security system back a reasonable deal that would not end the war, and “the ministers who led the government on October 7 prevent it,” Gantz says, “the government will not have the right to continue to exist.”
Opposition leader Yair Lapid charged that the government must choose between the two right-wing ministers and the good of the State of Israel, writing: “This government has to choose: return the hostages alive, or Ben-Gvir and Smotrich; relations with the Americanas, or Ben-Gvir and Smotrich; the Saudi deal, or Ben-Gvir and Smotrich; Israel’s security, or Ben-Gvir and Smotrich.”
