Hamas
Radicalization and celebration: Palestinian reactions to prisoner swap
Thousands of Palestinians chanted in support of Hamas on Saturday as they welcomed prisoners freed under the recent ceasefire agreement between Hamas and Israel.
Israel intends to broaden its military operation in Rafah, Defence Minister Yoav Gallant on Monday told a senior aide to U.S. President Joe Biden, who has warned against major action in the southern Gazan city that may risk mass civilian casualties.
Jake Sullivan and Yoav Gallant © X
Israel intends to broaden its military operation in Rafah, Defence Minister Yoav Gallant on Monday told a senior aide to U.S. President Joe Biden, who has warned against major action in the southern Gazan city that may risk mass civilian casualties.
Israel describes Rafah, which abuts the Gaza Strip's border with the Egyptian Sinai, as the last stronghold of Hamas Islamists whose governing and combat capabilities it has been trying to dismantle during the more than seven-month-old war.
After weeks of public disagreements with Washington over the Rafah planning, Israel on May 6 ordered Palestinian civilians to evacuate parts of the city and began troop and tank incursions.
"We are committed to broadening the ground operation in Rafah to the end of dismantling Hamas and recovering the hostages," a statement from Gallant's office quoted him as telling visiting U.S. National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan.
Israel believes dozens of hostages from the cross-border Hamas rampage on Oct. 7 are being held in Rafah.
Western powers and Egypt have voiced concern for the fate of hundreds of thousands of displaced Palestinians sheltering there, despite Israeli assurances about humanitarian safeguards.
The U.N. agency for Palestinian refugees UNRWA said on Monday that it estimated 810,000 people had fled Rafah since May 6 - potentially more than half of the city's wartime population.
There was no immediate U.S. comment on the Gallant talks.
The statement from Gallant's office said he "presented to (National Security) Adviser Sullivan the provisions Israel implemented for evacuating the population from the Rafah area and for setting up the appropriate humanitarian response".
Israel says its forces in Rafah have discovered dozens of tunnels from the Sinai, a potential embarrassment for Cairo. The Egyptian state information service has previously dismissed speculation about cross-border smuggling to Gaza as "lies".
Writing by Dan Williams
Thousands of Palestinians chanted in support of Hamas on Saturday as they welcomed prisoners freed under the recent ceasefire agreement between Hamas and Israel.
A group of Palestinian prisoners, released under the ceasefire agreement between Hamas and Israel, arrived in Egypt via the Rafah border crossing on Saturday, according to Al Qahera News.
The Israeli army on Saturday warned residents of dozens of Lebanese villages near the border against returning until further notice, a day after Israel said its forces would remain in south Lebanon beyond a Sunday deadline for their departure.
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