Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu stated that preparations are ongoing for an invasion of Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip, but this move “will take some time.”
Netanyahu announced that he would soon approve a plan to evacuate Palestinian civilians from combat zones after giving the green light to military operations in Rafah.
Netanyahu’s insistence on advancing his plan for the invasion of Rafah comes as conflicting parties convene for ongoing negotiations in Doha aimed at reaching a ceasefire agreement and exchanging prisoners between Israel and Hamas.
Israeli sources familiar with the negotiations confirmed that the first day of talks was positive but anticipated difficult and lengthy discussions due to numerous points of contention between the parties, prompting the head of Mossad to return to Tel Aviv to brief the Israeli government on the negotiations.
Ceasefire talks resumed this week in Qatar, but negotiations ongoing for weeks have so far failed to reach an agreement between Israel and Hamas, with Washington hoping to alleviate the humanitarian crisis in the region.
