Israel launches Rafah offensive it says is start of mission to ‘eliminate’ Hamas

Israel has launched a major military offensive against Hamas forces in Rafah, Gaza’s southernmost city, seizing control of a key border crossing and cutting off most aid into the territory a day before indirect talks on a ceasefire deal are due to restart.

Images released by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) showed tanks flying large Israeli flags driving through the post and crushing a concrete sign reading “I Love Gaza”.

Israel’s defence minister, Yoav Gallant, said the offensive would continue until Hamas forces in Rafah “and the entire Gaza Strip” were “eliminated” or the militant Islamist organisation begins to release hostages. A government spokesperson described the first stage of a wider effort targeting Hamas.

“This is the beginning of our mission to take out the last four Hamas brigades in Rafah. You should be in no doubt about that whatsoever,” the spokesperson said.

The Israeli operation was launched hours after an announcement by Hamas leaders on Monday night that they would accept a recent proposal for a ceasefire deal put forward by Qatari and Egyptian mediators.

Any truce would be the first pause in fighting since a week-long ceasefire in November during which Hamas freed about half of the 250 Israeli and other national hostages seized in a surprise attack into Israel in October. During that exchange, Israel released 240 Palestinians from its jails.

Source » theguardian.com