Israel: War in Gaza will last at least throughout 2024

(Patria) - Israel sent tanks into Rafah today and announced that it believes the war in the Gaza Strip will continue throughout this year.

Israeli tanks entered the center of Rafah for the first time yesterday, despite the decision of the International Court of Justice that operations in that city, where many Palestinians displaced from other parts of Gaza found refuge, must stop.

Residents of Rafah said that tanks broke through into Tel Al-Sultan in the west of the city and into Jibna and Shabura near the center, before withdrawing towards the border with Egypt, into a buffer zone, Hina reports.

Israel announced that its army controls three-quarters of the buffer zone and that it plans to establish control over the entire area to prevent Hamas from smuggling weapons through it.

Palestinian Minister of Health Majed Abu Ramadan said there are no indications that the Rafah border crossing will be reopened for humanitarian aid soon.

Tzachi Hanegbi, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's national security advisor, said today that the war in Gaza will continue at least throughout 2024, signaling that Israel is not ready for the end of the conflict, which Hamas has requested as part of a deal for the release of Israeli hostages in exchange for Palestinian prisoners.

- The fighting in Rafah is not a senseless war - he said, repeating claims that the ultimate goal is to eliminate Hamas rule in the enclave and stop attacks on Israel.

The United States, Israel's closest ally, reiterated yesterday that it opposes a ground operation in Rafah, but also that it does not believe such an operation is underway.

Almost a million Palestinians who had previously found refuge in Rafah have now fled that city after Israel issued a warning to evacuate, the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) announced yesterday.

Hunger is spreading through the enclave as humanitarian aid deliveries have slowed down. Organizations accuse Israel of blocking distribution, and Israel blames them.