Israel Moving Forward with Rafah Assault to Pressure Hamas on Hostages

Palestinians mourn by the bodies of relatives killed in Israeli bombardment as they transport them for burial from the al-Najjar hospital in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip, on April 25, 2024. (Photo by MOHAMMED ABED / AFP)
Palestinians mourn by the bodies of relatives killed in Israeli bombardment as they transport them for burial from the al-Najjar hospital in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip, on April 25, 2024. (Photo by MOHAMMED ABED / AFP)
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Israel Moving Forward with Rafah Assault to Pressure Hamas on Hostages

Palestinians mourn by the bodies of relatives killed in Israeli bombardment as they transport them for burial from the al-Najjar hospital in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip, on April 25, 2024. (Photo by MOHAMMED ABED / AFP)
Palestinians mourn by the bodies of relatives killed in Israeli bombardment as they transport them for burial from the al-Najjar hospital in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip, on April 25, 2024. (Photo by MOHAMMED ABED / AFP)

Israel's biggest newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth said on Thursday that the government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will move forward with plans for an all-out assault on Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip to pressure Hamas to resume hostage negotiations.

The daily said that Israel would attack Rafah to put more pressure on Hamas and increase chances for an agreement on the hostages who were taken by the militant group in its Oct. 7 attack on southern Israel.

On Wednesday, a spokesperson for Netanyahu's government said Israel was "moving ahead" with its plans for a ground operation on Rafah but gave no timeline.

The war, now in its seventh month, has killed more than 34,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza health authorities. The offensive has laid to waste much of the enclave, displacing most of its 2.3 million people and creating a humanitarian crisis.



US General Sees Progress as Israel-Hezbollah Ceasefire Deadline Approaches in Lebanon

 A general view shows damage and debris in the southern Lebanese village of al-Taybeh, near the border with Israel, on February 4, 2025. (AFP)
A general view shows damage and debris in the southern Lebanese village of al-Taybeh, near the border with Israel, on February 4, 2025. (AFP)
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US General Sees Progress as Israel-Hezbollah Ceasefire Deadline Approaches in Lebanon

 A general view shows damage and debris in the southern Lebanese village of al-Taybeh, near the border with Israel, on February 4, 2025. (AFP)
A general view shows damage and debris in the southern Lebanese village of al-Taybeh, near the border with Israel, on February 4, 2025. (AFP)

The US representative on a committee overseeing the ceasefire agreement that ended the latest Israel-Hezbollah war said Friday that “significant progress” had been made ahead of a looming deadline to implement all the terms of the deal.

However, Maj. Gen. Jasper Jeffers' statement appeared to leave some ambiguity on whether Israel would withdraw its forces from all of southern Lebanon by the ceasefire's Feb. 18 deadline, saying only that he was confident “all population centers in the Southern Litani Area” would be back under Lebanese control by then.

In areas where Israeli forces pull out, the Lebanese army and a UN peacekeeping force known as UNIFIL are tasked with ensuring Hezbollah does not reestablish a military presence.

The deadline for Israel and Hezbollah to withdraw was initially set for late January, but Israel and Lebanon agreed to extend it. Lebanese officials say they won't agree to another extension and adamantly reject an Israeli proposal to keep its forces in five border points after leaving other areas.

French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot said Thursday that his country had proposed a beefed-up UNIFIL presence, including French forces, in place of Israeli troops at those five points. The monitoring committee also includes France, Lebanon, Israel and UNIFIL.