Minister says fighting will reach southern border city if remaining hostages not released in next few weeks
A member of Israel’s war cabinet has said the country will launch its threatened ground offensive against Rafah, the last place of relative safety in Gaza, if Hamas does not release its remaining Israeli hostages by the beginning of the holy Muslim month of Ramadan in just under three weeks.
“The world must know, and Hamas leaders must know – if by Ramadan our hostages are not home, the fighting will continue everywhere, including the Rafah area,” Benny Gantz, a retired Israel Defense Forces (IDF) chief of staff, told a conference of American Jewish leaders in Jerusalem on Sunday.
As Israeli forces have expanded ground operations steadily southwards in their war against Hamas over the past four months, Rafah – situated on the border with Egypt, and before the conflict home to about 280,000 people – has become the last refuge for more than half of the strip’s population of 2.3 million.
If I were a Palestinian, I would be so fucking pissed at Hamas. Like, Hamas fucked up, and continues to fuck up, but Palestinians suffer for Hamas fuck ups. Release the hostages you fucking terrorists.
It's been said before, but if I were a Palestinian (or an Israeli) I'd also be angry at Israeli politicians like Netenyahu for helping prop up Hamas, in order to divide the Palestinian cause and undermine the PLO.
Palestinians were already suffering before hamas fucked up, Israel was just trying to hide it before OCT 7, now they have an excuse so they don’t need to hide it anymore, also why doesn’t Israel agree to the hostage deals and continue to reject ceasefires proposed by hamas?
Problem is that not all the hostages were taken by Hamas. Groups like PIJ, DFLP, PFLP and others also took part in the attacks on October 7 alongside Hamas and supposedly took hostages of their own.