'No force in the world' will stop Rafah invasion, Netanyahu says
He said there were "many forces" trying to stop the Rafah offensive - a reference to other nations demanding that Israel does not go ahead
In a smack in the face of the Biden administration, Benjamin Netanyahu has doubled down on his pledge to go forward with his invasion of Rafah in southern Gaza.
Speaking from a military base, Netanyahu says: "We will complete the elimination of the Hamas battalions, including in Rafah. No force in the world will stop us."
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He said there were "many forces" trying to stop the Rafah offensive - a reference to other nations demanding that Israel does not go ahead - "but it will not help, because this enemy, after what it has done, will not do it again, it will cease to exist".
He said that a date had been set for the Rafah operation, but he did not specify when.
Israel-US meeting on Rafah
An in-person meeting of Israeli and US officials on the planned operation in the Gaza city of Rafah will take place "in a couple of weeks", the White House says.
Meanwhile, Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant told U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin on Monday that Israel has not yet set a date for an operation in Rafah, despite Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's public claim Monday that "there is a date," according to a source with direct knowledge.
Why it matters: The Biden administration is pushing Netanyahu not to proceed with an operation in Rafah, where more than one million displaced Palestinians are sheltering. Netanyahu has presented the plans as a done deal, but both U.S. officials and Gallant are now contradicting him.
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