Palestinian leader begs US to halt Israel's onslaught in Rafah

Palestinian leader begs US to halt Israel's onslaught in Rafah

The only nation that can prevent Israel from bombing Rafah, the southern Gaza city where over a million Palestinians are seeking safety, according to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, is the United States.

The leader of the occupied West Bank, Mr. Abbas, warned that any strike may force Palestinians from Gaza.

Israel's foreign minister said on Saturday that if a hostage agreement was reached, Israel may halt the invasion.

"Our top priority is the release of the hostages," Israel Katz said.

Due to differences between the stances held by Israel and Hamas, long-running negotiations mediated by Egypt and Qatar have mostly come to a standstill. However, on Sunday, Hamas said that it will dispatch officials to Cairo in order to respond to the most recent proposal.

Israel maintains that Hamas must be eliminated in Gaza and that all captives must be released, while Hamas demands a permanent end to the conflict and the evacuation of all Israeli forces from Gaza.

Speaking at the World Economic Forum (WEF) in the Saudi capital of Riyadh, Mr. Abbas asked the US to step in. Gaza has been ruled by Hamas since 2007. His Palestinian Authority is not present in Gaza.

"What will happen in the coming few days is what Israel will do with destroying Rafah because all the Palestinians throughout Gaza are gathered there," he said.

The only thing that would cause the Palestinian people to leave the Gaza Strip, he said, would be a "small strike" on Rafah.

"The biggest crisis in the Palestinian people's history would then happen."

An inflow of Palestinian refugees fleeing the conflict would be intolerable, according to Egypt and other Arab governments, since it would mean the deportation of Palestinians from their homeland.

Mr. Abbas will have discussions with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken when he arrives in Riyadh later on Sunday.

The US has made it clear time and time again that it would not back a significant Israeli military action in Rafah unless it has a solid strategy in place to keep civilians safe.

John Kirby, the White House's national security spokesman, told ABC on Sunday that Israel has consented to hear US concerns and ideas before entering Rafah.

Israeli media said that the Israeli military's leader, Herzi Halevi, had authorized preparations to prolong the conflict, a reference to the Rafah operation.

Rafah, the congested southern metropolis where more than half of Gaza's population resides, is already home to displaced individuals who have told the BBC that there is a severe shortage of food, water, and medicine.

Satellite images have shown the construction of new tent encampments close to the Gaza shore, west of Rafah, and the mostly destroyed city of Khan Younis, a little farther north. According to media sources, the purpose of the tents is to house displaced Palestinians from Rafah.

The present conflict started when Hamas assaulted Israeli villages close to Gaza, killing over 1,200 people—mostly civilians—and kidnapping another 250. The health ministry of Gaza, operated by Hamas, reports that 34,454 Palestinians have died as a result of Israel's ensuing campaign of aerial bombing and ground operations in the area, the majority of them were civilians.

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) have invaded and seized control of much of central and southern Gaza, including Khan Younis, as well as all of northern Gaza, including Gaza City, throughout the course of the six-month conflict.

Since then, they have left almost all of those locations, although soldiers are still stationed along the route that divides Gaza's northern and southern regions, which Israel constructed.

A major demand Hamas is making in truce negotiations is the ability for Palestinians who were forced to flee to southern Gaza—where the Israeli military advised them to evacuate for their own safety early in the conflict—to return to their homes farther north. Israel has not indicated when this would be possible.

Meanwhile, the Israeli military claims to have been hitting projectile launch locations as it has resumed its devastating assault of Gaza, especially Rafah.

According to unidentified Egyptian officials cited by US media, the most recent ceasefire offer made to Hamas called for the release of 20 hostages in exchange for a few weeks of relative quiet that would eventually result in the end of the conflict.

The armed wing of Hamas published two movies this week that provide the first indications of the three prisoners' lives since their kidnapping in October of last year.

Omri Miran said he had been detained for 202 days in undated tape that was recorded under duress, while Keith Siegel made reference to the recent Passover holiday, suggesting the recordings were recorded not long ago.

It comes after the gang published another proof-of-life video earlier this week, which features 23-year-old Israeli-American prisoner Hersh Goldberg-Polin missing his lower left arm. When Hamas attacked on October 7, it blew off.

After a brief ceasefire in November that resulted in the release of some hostages, it is estimated that 133 hostages remain in Gaza, of which about 30 are thought to be dead.