Israel-Hamas war: Netanyahu orders troops to prepare to enter Rafah

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Wednesday (Feb 7) ordered troops to prepare to enter the Gaza Strip's Rafah after rejecting Hamas' response to a ceasefire proposal in the besieged Palestinian territory. In televised remarks, Prime Minister Netanyahu said he ordered troops to prepare to operate in Rafah and that total victory over Hamas was just months away.

Reacting to the ceasefire proposal, Netanyahu said, "Giving in to the bizarre demands of Hamas that we have just heard will... only invite another massacre."

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US Secretary of State, Antony Blinken, who is on his fifth tour to the Middle East, met the Israeli PM and said that Hamas' counter-proposal (of a ceasefire) at least offered an opportunity to pursue negotiations.

"While there are some clear non-starters in Hamas's response, we do think it creates space for agreement to be reached, and we will work at that relentlessly until we get there," Blinken told reporters in Tel Aviv. He stopped short of calling on Israel not to move into Rafah, but expressed concerns at Netanyahu's announcement by saying that any "military operation that Israel undertakes needs to put civilians first and foremost."

Mounting concerns in Rafah over military push

A report by the news agency AFP on Thursday said that concerns were mounting in Rafah over the upcoming military push in the city by Israel. Hundreds of Palestinians have sought refuge in the city since the conflict began on Oct 7 last year. United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, meanwhile, warned that a military push into the city "would exponentially increase what is already a humanitarian nightmare."

Concerns were also mounting for displaced Palestinian civilians thronging Rafah. Till now, more than half of Gaza's 2.4 million population has sought safety in the city.

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In a statement, UN humanitarian chief Martin Griffiths said, "Their living conditions are abysmal -- they lack the basic necessities to survive, stalked by hunger, disease and death."

"As the war encroaches further into Rafah, I am extremely concerned about the safety and well-being of families which have endured the unthinkable in search of safety," Griffiths added.

Death toll in Gaza over 27,700

Meanwhile, the health ministry in Gaza said that the death toll has climbed to 27,708 since the conflict began. The latest toll includes 123 deaths over the past 24 hours, the ministry said, adding, a total of 67,147 people have been wounded.

(With inputs from agencies)