Israel Advances Rafah Ground Attack Plan as Hostage Negotiations Continue

The Israeli military has proposed a plan for attacking Hamas forces in Rafah, the city on the southern edge of the Gaza Strip where over 1 million Palestinians have sought shelter since the war broke out last October. The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) “presented the war cabinet with a plan for evacuating the population from the areas of fighting in the Gaza Strip, and with the upcoming operational plan,” a statement from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office read. The statement intensified fears concerning the fate of the last city in Gaza untouched by the IDF’s ground troops. Before Hamas terrorists launched a massive killing and kidnapping spree in Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, Rafah was home to around 250,000 people. Following four months of fighting and bombing elsewhere across the enclave, Rafah’s population has swelled to an estimated 1.4 million, according to the United Nations....