Thursday 16 / January / 2025
Israel has set a deadline for the start of its planned military operation in Rafah, despite international calls to avoid a ground offensive in the southern Gazan city.
"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," opposition politician Benny Gantz, who has taken a post in Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's war cabinet, told a conference of Jewish American leaders.
Ramadan, the Islamic holy month, is expected to begin on March 10.
More than 200 people were taken hostage on October 7 in attacks on Israel led by Hamas — designated a terrorist organization by the US, EU and Israel, among others. Around 130 are believed to still be in Gaza.
More than a million Palestinians have fled to Rafah since Israel launched an air and ground assault elsewhere in the territory. Many of those displaced are living in crowded shelters and tent camps in the city on the border with Egypt.
Meanwhile, Netanyahu brushed off growing calls to halt the military offensive, vowing to "finish the job."
The Health Ministry in Hamas-controlled Gaza said on Sunday that 127 people died in 24 hours as Israel's military pressed its offensive in the territory. The ministry does not distinguish between combatants and civilians.
Israel's Cabinet said it "will continue to oppose unilateral recognition of a Palestinian state."
"Such recognition in the wake of the October 7 massacre would be a massive and unprecedented reward to terrorism and would prevent any future peace settlement," it said in a statement.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said it comes after "recent talk in the international community about an attempt to unilaterally impose on Israel a Palestinian state."
TheUS and several Arab partners were reportedly preparing a detailed plan for a comprehensive peace deal between Israel and the Palestinians that includes a "firm timeline" for a Palestinian state.
The UK also seems to be thinking about it even though, in the past, the country has been just as opposed to the move as the US.
"What we need to do is give the Palestinian people a horizon towards a better future, the future of having a state of their own," British Foreign Secretary David Cameron said earlier this month.
Senior politicians in Spain, Norway and Ireland have also recently spoken about potentially recognizing a Palestinian state.
On Sunday, the Israel Cabinet said it "categorically rejects international edicts on a permanent arrangement with the Palestinians" and opposes any unilateral recognition of a Palestinian state.
