Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Monday that his government had set a date to begin operations in Rafah even after U.S. President Joe Biden reneged on his previous commitment of solidarity with the Jewish state in the wake of Hamas terrorists' October 7 massacre.
In a video message, Netanyahu reiterated his commitment to continuing Israel's fight to eliminate Hamas and said "there is a date" for an IDF operation to neutralize terrorists in Rafah.
קיבלתי היום דיווח מפורט על השיחות בקהיר, אנחנו פועלים כל הזמן להשגת מטרותינו ובראשן שחרור כל חטופינו והשגת ניצחון מוחלט על חמאס.
— Benjamin Netanyahu - בנימין נתניהו (@netanyahu) April 8, 2024
הניצחון הזה מחייב כניסה לרפיח וחיסול גדודי הטרור שם. זה יקרה - יש תאריך. pic.twitter.com/KOhStmGSGp
Israel's objectives remain the same, explained Netanyahu, “primarily releasing all our hostages and achieving total victory over Hamas," he confirmed. That victory "requires entering Rafah and eliminating the terrorist battalions there."
Netanyahu's announcement comes after Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said withdrawing IDF troops from southern Gaza — including Khan Younis — was the result of successful operations and to prepare soldiers "for their future missions" including "in the Rafah area."
More on the IDF's latest movements via the Foundation for Defense of Democracies (FDD):
Overnight between Saturday and Sunday, the IDF withdrew all its ground forces from the south of Gaza, leaving only the Nahal Brigade in Gaza to guard the Netzarim Corridor. In the IDF’s Khan Younis offensive, it dismantled the Hamas brigade in the area, killed thousands of terrorists, and destroyed some 30 kilometers of tunnels. The army now believes that pinpoint raids conducted on the basis of intelligence indicating that a raid is warranted is a better way to approach the fighting. Defense Minister Yoav Gallant stated that in Khan Younis, just as in Gaza City and in the northern Gaza Strip, Hamas has ceased to function as a military organization, adding that the IDF is freely carrying out any action necessary.
Netanyahu's statement that a date has been set for the IDF to begin clearing Hamas and other Iran-backed terror groups out of Rafah is a notable repudiation of scolding from President Joe Biden and others in his administration such as Secretary of State Antony Blinken who said Israel was at risk of becoming "indistinguishable" from Hamas.
In the U.S., President Biden's previous pledges of support for Israel were undone in a staggering show of hypocrisy by his administration in a transparently political move aimed at shoring up the support of terrorist-sympathizing Democrats in states such as Michigan and Minnesota.
Citing a case of misidentification on the part of IDF forces that resulted in the death of aid workers with World Central Kitchen, the Biden administration called for a ceasefire (read: called for Israel to allow Hamas to survive) and warned that if Israel didn't do more than it already does to protect non-combatants, U.S. policy toward Israel could change.
Never mind that Israel and its military already take extreme care to avoid civilians, an almost impossible task when plain-clothed Hamas embeds its terrorists in schools and mosques and uses hospitals as command and control centers. Biden also ignores the reality that the IDF has "created a new standard for urban warfare." Instead of acknowledging that the IDF, to avoid hitting civilians, provides advance notice of its attacks thereby frequently giving Hamas time to escape, Biden blames Israel for the hell that is the war started by Hamas on October 7. All the death and destruction that has occurred in Gaza is solely due to Hamas — a fact that should not be difficult for Biden to comprehend.
Beyond being an indefensible reversal that ought to frighten all of America's allies, Biden's abandonment of Israel following the IDF's accidental killing of aid workers is entirely hypocritical — but the Biden administration doesn't want you to remember that its final action in Afghanistan was launching a strike that killed an aid worker, two other adults, and five children in Kabul.