(Times of Israel) Israeli National Security Adviser Tzachi Hanegbi told Israel's Channel 12 on Saturday that "it is a fact" that Israel has decided to carry out its planned operation in the Gaza city of Rafah. He said U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken knows Israel will soon move into Rafah, since he drove past the tanks during his visit to Israel on Wednesday. "He won't be surprised." Hanegbi explained that the Rafah operation is necessary to cut Hamas off from the Egyptian border - its "oxygen" for arms supplies. Hanegbi said discussion of governance in Gaza on "the day after" the war was "important but virtual" at this stage. "Did the Americans, when they were fighting the Nazis for four years, establish what would happen the day after? They first had to defeat the Nazis....No Saudi, Emirati, Jordanian or Fatah official will go in and take control of Gaza so long as Hamas is there." He added that Israel must maintain overall security control of Gaza because "nobody but us will fight to destroy the remainder of Hamas."
2024-05-05 00:00:00Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive