During the offensive in Rafah
Hamas threatens to break off hostage negotiations
February 11, 2024, 2:11 p.m
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The Israeli army is preparing a ground offensive on the city of Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip. In return, Hamas is threatening to break off negotiations regarding the more than 100 hostages still being held.
Hamas has threatened Israel with breaking off talks on a hostage agreement in the event of military action in the city of Rafah in the south of the Gaza Strip. Any attack could destroy the negotiations, the Palestinian television station Al-Aqsa, which is considered the mouthpiece of the Islamists, quoted an unnamed high-ranking Hamas member as saying.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ordered the army on Friday to prepare an offensive on Rafah. The city, near the border with Egypt, is the only place in the coastal area where Hamas still exercises control. However, a military offensive there is considered highly problematic. Before the war, the city had around 300,000 inhabitants, but there are now said to be at least 1.3 million internally displaced people living there in a small area.
Netanyahu assured the hundreds of thousands of civilians seeking protection there a “safe corridor”. “We are not being careless about this,” Netanyahu said in an interview with US broadcaster ABC News. The civilian population will be given a “safe corridor so that they can leave the area”. When asked where the more than one million Palestinians in the city bordering Egypt should go, Netanyahu said that “a detailed plan” was being drawn up.
The US government and Federal Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock, among others, recently spoke out clearly against military action in Rafah. UN Secretary-General António Guterres also warned of a humanitarian catastrophe and consequences for the entire region. According to eyewitnesses, Israel has already attacked targets in the city from the air on several occasions. Israeli ground troops have not yet been deployed there.
Egypt, Qatar and the USA are currently making renewed efforts to bring about a longer ceasefire in the Gaza war. As part of an agreement, the hostages still held in the Gaza Strip will be exchanged for Palestinian prisoners in Israel in several phases. Negotiations are currently making slow progress.