Israel-Hamas war: Israeli offensive in Rafah will ‘blow up’ hostage exchange negotiations, says Hamas
Written By Harshit Sabarwal
Published: Feb 11, 2024, 01:16 IST | Updated: Feb 11, 2024, 01:16 IST
File photo.
Hamas warned on Sunday (Feb 11) that any Israeli offensive in the Gaza Strip's Rafah would "blow up" the hostage exchange negotiations. Speaking to the al-Aqsa channel, a senior Hamas leader said that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was trying to avoid the price of the prisoner exchange by continuing the mass extermination and humanitarian catastrophe in Rafah.
"What Netanyahu and the Israeli army failed to do in four months, he won't be able to achieve it even if the war drags on," the leader added.
The war between Israel and Hamas started on Oct 7 last year when Hamas militants stormed border defences to attack Israeli towns, killing around 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and taking around 250 hostages back to Gaza. Israel responded with a massive offensive in the Gaza Strip, killing over 28,000 people as per Hamas' claims.
Earlier, Netanyahu's office said that it had ordered the military to develop a plan to evacuate Rafah and destroy four Hamas battalions it says are deployed there, the news agency Reuters reported.
PM Netanyahu promised "safe passage" to civilians displaced in Rafah before the Israeli military carried out its offensive. "We're going to do it while providing safe passage for the civilian population so they can leave," he told ABC News on Sunday.
As the military has pushed steadily southwards, Rafah has become the last major population centre in Gaza that troops have yet to enter, even as it is bombarded by air strikes almost daily.
On Saturday, Saudi Arabia warned of "very serious repercussions of storming and targeting" Rafah and called for an urgent UN Security Council meeting.
Apart from the offensive possibly blowing up the hostage exchange negotiations, Hamas also warned full-scale Israeli invasion of Rafah could cause tens of thousands of casualties.
On Sunday, the Palestinian health ministry said that 94 people were killed in overnight bombardments across Gaza, including in Rafah.
(With inputs from agencies)