Prime Minister of Israel, Benjamin Netanyahusaid on Tuesday that The Israeli army will enter Rafah eliminate the four Hamas battalions believed to remain in the south of the Gaza Strip, “with or without agreement” truce.

“We will enter Rafah and destroy the Hamas battalions there, with or without an agreement,” Netanyahu assured during meeting with relatives of abducted people and victims of the October 7 terrorist attack.

His words come when Hamas studies latest truce proposal from mediators According to Israeli media, a 40-day ceasefire is expected in Cairo and the release of thousands of Palestinian prisoners in exchange for hostages in the Gaza Strip.

“The idea that we will stop the war before all its goals have been achieved is non-negotiable,” the president said at the meeting, referring to three goals repeated during the nearly seven months of war: return hostages and end Hamas military forces and ensure that the Gaza Strip ceases to be a “threat” to Israel.

International organizations and much of the international community, including the United States, have warned that the Rafah offensive will mean a humanitarian catastrophe even more than what Palestinians already suffer in the enclave, where there is little food, little drinking water and a collapsed health care system.

In Rafah, 1.4 million Gazans live in poverty. the majority have been displaced from the north during a war that has already seen more than 34,500 people killed in 207 days of offensive, where almost 80% of the population remains displaced.

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Some far-right ministers of the Israeli government coalition proposed to withdraw support for Netanyahu’s coalition government unless the president gives the green light to the Rafah operation, for which the Israeli army developed a proposed offensive plan at the end of February.

(EFE)