Israeli generals said to meet Egyptian counterparts to coordinate evacuation of civilians from southern city, seen as last major Hamas redoubt in Strip.
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| Girls peep through a destroyed window from a building in Rafah, Gaza Strip on Wednesday 24 April, 2024. Photo: Mohammed Abed/AFP via timesofisrael.com |
The Israel Defense Forces has conducted all necessary preparations to take Gaza’s southernmost city of Rafah and can launch an operation the moment it gets government approval, a senior Israeli defense official said Wednesday.
Israel deems Rafah the last Hamas bastion in the Gaza Strip and is poised to evacuate Palestinian civilians from there and assault Hamas holdouts, the unnamed official told the Reuters news agency, which didn’t specify whether the source was connected to the IDF.
A spokesperson for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government told the agency that Israel was “moving ahead” with a ground operation, but gave no timeline.
Meanwhile, multiple Israeli reports indicated that top Israeli security officials visited Egypt Wednesday to coordinate the planned offensive in Rafah.
timesofisrael.com
