Israeli PM wants IDF to draft plan on evacuation of civilians from Rafah

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has instructed the country’s military to work out a plan to evacuate civilians from the city of Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip and exterminate Hamas battalions still entrenched in the city.

"It is impossible to attain the goals of the war and exterminate Hamas when four Hamas battalions still remain in Rafah. On the other hand, it is obvious that a large-scale operation in Rafah required the evacuation of the civilian population from the zone of combat operations. This is why the prime minister instructed the IDF and security services to submit to the cabinet a two-pronged plan: of both the evacuation of the population and the elimination of Hamas battalions," the prime minister’s office said.

Principal Deputy Spokesperson for the US Department of State Vedant Patel said on February 8 that the United States did not think that Israel was acting appropriately while planning the military operation in Rafah and did not support it if Israel ignored the needs of Palestinians. He said that such an operation in an area populated by a million people would be a catastrophe.