BEIJING, Feb. 15 (Xinhua) -- Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Feb. 14 that he would carry out a "strong operation" in Rafah, a city in the southern Gaza Strip, and said that "strong military pressure and tough negotiations" would be a prerequisite for ensuring the safe release of those detained by the Palestinian Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas).
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks at a press conference at the Israeli Prime Minister's office in Jerusalem on February 7. Xinhua News Agency (Photo by Mark Islael Salem Gini ** Agency).
On the same day, Germany, France, the International Committee of the Red Cross and others called on Israel to exercise restraint to prevent the humanitarian catastrophe from further escalating.
The Prime Minister took a tough stance.
Netanyahu said on social media that the Israeli army will fight until complete victory after civilians leave the war zone, which includes a strong operation in Rafah. He did not specify when the offensive against Rafah would be pursued, and where the large number of civilians in Rafah would be withdrawn.
Rafah is located at the southern tip of the Gaza Strip, bordering Egypt, and has a permanent population of less than 300,000. Since the outbreak of the new Palestinian-Israeli conflict on October 7 last year, a large number of people in northern and central Gaza have sought refuge in Rafah.
On 13 February, people affected by attacks by the Israeli army fled their homes in the southern Gaza Strip city of Rafah. Xinhua News Agency (photo by Yasser Cudi).
On the 9th of this month, Netanyahu asked the Israeli military and security services to submit to the wartime cabinet a plan for a ground operation in Rafah.
On the 14th, the Israeli army intensively bombed several areas of Gaza City in the northern part of the Gaza Strip. According to data released by the Palestinian health department in the Gaza Strip on the 14th, the Israeli army's attacks on the Gaza Strip in the past 24 hours have killed 103 people and injured 145.
In addition, many places in northern Israel were attacked by rockets from Lebanon on the morning of the 14th, and the Israeli army said that one civilian was killed and seven were injured. Lebanon** reported that Israeli air strikes in several areas in southern Lebanon that afternoon, killing at least four people and wounding nine others.
There was no progress in the negotiations.
Representatives of Egypt, Qatar, the United States, and Israel began negotiations again in Cairo on 13 June on matters such as facilitating a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip. The Israeli Prime Minister's Office said on the 14th that there was no progress in the negotiations on the 13th.
People march through the streets of Jerusalem on January 24. Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Chen Junqing.
Netanyahu said on the 14th that "strong military pressure and tough negotiations" will be an important prerequisite for ensuring the safe release of detainees.
According to the Associated Press, Hamas's conditions for the release of Israeli detainees include the end of Israeli military operations, the withdrawal of the Gaza Strip, and the release of a large number of Palestinian detainees, including senior Hamas commanders. Netanyahu said that Hamas would abandon these "whimsical demands" before negotiations could move forward.
The Associated Press said that on the 14th, the negotiations continued at a lower level.
According to Israel**, Netanyahu instructed the negotiating delegation not to return to the negotiating table until Hamas softened, and Israel would not send representatives to the negotiations on the 15th.
The families of the Israeli detainees criticized that the refusal to negotiate was tantamount to a "death sentence" for the detainees. Analysts pointed out that the delay in the rescue of the detainees has caused a strong psychological shock to the Israeli people, showing that Israel** is unable to protect its own citizens.
Some 130 Israeli detainees remain in the Gaza Strip, a quarter of whom are said to have died.
Warnings from multiple parties.
France**Emmanuel Macron communicated with Netanyahu on the 14th**. According to the communiqué issued by the French government on the same day, France firmly opposes Israel's military operation in Rafah, because it will only cause a humanitarian catastrophe on a larger scale.
This is a makeshift camp filmed on February 10 in the southern Gaza Strip city of Rafah. Xinhua News Agency (photo by Yasser Cudi).
Annalena Baerbock, a German minister visiting Israel, said at a news conference held in Jerusalem on 14 June that millions of people are trapped in Rafah, and if the Israeli army attacks Rafah like this, there will be serious humanitarian consequences.
Since the start of the conflict, about 80 percent of the 2.3 million people in the Gaza Strip have fled their homes, a quarter of the population is starving, and large swathes of the northern Gaza Strip have been completely destroyed, according to the Associated Press.
The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) issued a statement on the 14th, stressing that "forced transfer of civilians" violates international law and calling on all parties to the conflict to protect the lives of civilians. (Guo Qian).