24 Jun 2024

Intense fighting in Rafah near end, Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu says

7:41 pm on 24 June 2024
This handout picture released by the Israeli army on June 23, 2024 reportedly shows Israeli army main battle tanks operating in Rafah in the southern the Gaza Strip amid the ongoing conflict in the Palestinian territory between Israel and Hamas. (Photo by Israeli Army / AFP) / === RESTRICTED TO EDITORIAL USE - MANDATORY CREDIT "AFP PHOTO / Handout / Israeli Army' - NO MARKETING NO ADVERTISING CAMPAIGNS - DISTRIBUTED AS A SERVICE TO CLIENTS ==

This handout picture released by the Israeli army on 23 June 2024 shows Israeli battle tanks operating in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip. Photo: Israeli Army / AFP

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said the "intense phase" of fighting in Rafah in southern Gaza is nearly over, but that this does not mean that the war is coming to an end.

He said the war would continue until Hamas was completely driven from power.

He added that the Israeli military would soon be able to redeploy troops to the border with Lebanon, where exchanges of fire with Hezbollah have been escalating.

Netanyahu also again rejected the idea that the West Bank-based Palestinian Authority should run Gaza in place of Hamas.

"In the end, you will have to do two things: you will need the ongoing military demilitarisation by the Israel Defense Forces and you will need to establish a civil administration, I hope that with the support and management of certain countries in the region, I think this is the right way to move forward," he said in an Israeli television interview.

"I'll tell you what I'm not ready to do, I'm not ready to establish a Palestinian state there, I'm not ready to hand it over to the Palestinian Authority. I'm not ready to do that."

Palestinians flee the area of Tal al-Sultan in Rafah with their belongings following renewed Israeli strikes in the city in the southern Gaza Strip on May 28, 2024, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and the Palestinian Hamas militant group. (Photo by Eyad BABA / AFP)

Palestinians flee the area of Tal al-Sultan in Rafah on 28 May 2024 Photo: AFP

Residents of Rafah said there had been more clashes in the city, while Israeli air strikes on Gaza City are reported to have killed the Hamas-run health ministry's director of emergency services.

An aid distribution centre was also hit: the IDF said it was being used by Hamas.

Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant is starting a visit to Washington, to discuss the war in Gaza and the escalating tensions with Hezbollah, which is backed by Iran.

The Israeli military launched a campaign to destroy Hamas in response to the Palestinian armed group's unprecedented attack on southern Israel on 7 October, during which about 1200 people - mostly civilians - were killed and 251 others were taken hostage.

More than 37,551 people have been killed in Gaza since then, according to the territory's Hamas-run health ministry. Its figures do not differentiate between civilians and combatants, but it had reportedly identified 14,680 children, women and elderly people among the dead by the end of April.

- BBC