The Israeli army invaded Rafah in the south of Gaza on May 6, despite international warnings.
Israeli security officials have estimated that the army’s military operation in Rafah will end in two weeks, according to media reports.
The Anadolu news agency cited Israel’s public broadcaster KAN as having quoted senior security officials on Friday who estimated that the operation in the southern Gaza Strip would not take more than two weeks to be concluded.
KAN, Anadolu said, cited the unnamed officials as saying if no agreement on a cease-fire with the Palestinians is reached before ending the operation in Rafah, the political level must decide the next steps in Gaza.
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The officials added that the Israeli war on Gaza is close to the end of its second phase, and there are necessitates to take new steps, otherwise, the military operation will turn from success to failure.
The Israeli army invaded Rafah in the south of Gaza on May 6, despite international warnings.
The military also captured the Palestinian side of the Rafah border crossing, a vital route to humanitarian aid into Gaza, worsening the already difficult humanitarian conditions in the territory.
Army To Keep Control
Anadolu said the security officials noted that the army will keep control after ending the military operation in Gaza over the Netzarim Corridor area.
This was established by the Israeli army in central Gaza to separate northern Gaza from the south and over the Rafah crossing and the Philadelphi Corridor area which is a demilitarized buffer zone running along the border between Gaza and Egypt.
‘One Million Palestinians Have Fled Rafah’ amid Israel’s Invasion – UNRWA
Early on Friday, Israeli Channel 12 reported that the army recommended ending its military offensive in Rafah and heading toward an “operation in the north” in reference to Lebanon, said Anadolu.
According to the UN Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA), nearly one million Palestinians have fled Rafah, amid the Israeli military’s ongoing incursion into the city. Hundreds have been killed in airstrikes on the town.
Rafah housed more than 1.5 million displaced Palestinians before the ground invasion began. Many had fled their homes in areas across the besieged enclave which was attacked by Israeli forces.
Over 37,000 Killed
Currently on trial before the International Court of Justice for genocide against Palestinians, Israel has been waging a devastating war on Gaza since October 7.
According to Gaza’s Ministry of Health, 37,296 Palestinians have been killed, and 85,197 wounded. Moreover, at least 11,000 people are unaccounted for, presumed dead under the rubble of their homes throughout the Strip.
Palestinian and international organizations say that the majority of those killed and wounded are women and children.
War-Torn Gaza – Civilian Casualties Mount amid Ongoing Genocide
The Israeli war has resulted in an acute famine, mostly in northern Gaza, resulting in the death of many Palestinians, mostly children.
The Israeli aggression has also resulted in the forceful displacement of nearly two million people from all over the Gaza Strip, with the vast majority of the displaced forced into the densely crowded southern city of Rafah near the border with Egypt – in what has become Palestine’s largest mass exodus since the 1948 Nakba.
Israel says that 1,200 soldiers and civilians were killed during the Al-Aqsa Flood Operation on October 7. Israeli media published reports suggesting that many Israelis were killed on that day by ‘friendly fire’.
(Anadolu, PC)
