Why Israel is yet to invade Rafa
The last remaining Hamas battalions are stationed in Rafa, a bordering community with Egypt. The aims of the war set out by the government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu cannot be accomplished without invasion of the remaining area where last four battalions of the terrorist group station.
It was the war strategy of Israel to narrow Hamas in one area to enable for easy elimination of the terrorist group. But the strategy is today complicated, while diplomatic efforts are ongoing to further the war.
The war began after Israel responded to October 7 massacre of Israelis, where Hamas under the cover of barrage of rockets invaded Israel with intent to commit extermination crime.
In the end, Israel lost more than a thousand souls, including women that were raped and children beheaded. The initial plan of the the terrorists was to take over Israeli territory after killing citizens.
Israel responded immediately and waged the terrorists to restore calm in the border communities. Afterwards, Israel declared a war to eliminate Hamas. According to the Hamas figures, more than 30,000 Palestinians have been killed since the start of the war.
Initially, Israel divided the Gaza Stripe into two, Northern and Southern Gaza. Northern Gaza came under fire, until the Northern battalions of Hamas were incapacitated. Israel ensured safe areas were created in the South of the Strip for civilians.
When the mission in Northern Gaza was completed, Israel shifted focus to the South, where other Hamas battalions are. The war in Southern Gaza is taking time due to Hamas embedded their terrorist infrastructures on civilians.
Khan Younis has come under sustained fire. Khan Younis battalions of Hamas were the strongest battalions of the terrorist organisation, but were also overcome by Israeli superior firepower that left pockets of terrorist cells at the mercy of deepening gains of the success by Israeli army.
The Reasons They Are Yet To Invade Rafa.
First, Israel wants to use Rafa as a negotiation chip for the release of its Hamas-held hostages. The delay in the invasion of Rafa is linked to securing hostage release deal. By delaying Rafa invasion, Israel wants to play the delay game, with the hope of using it to coerce Hamas into a deal.
Israel’s strongest ally is under pressure to change the situation in Gaza, and due to many civilians have died, US is finding it hard to continue to support the war. US is worried about the civilian cost of the war, and Rafa invasion would dramatically increase the number of civilian victims.
Rafa is the last safe zone carved out by Israel, and a congested area with over 2 million people will amount to military catastrophe if invaded. US wants a convincing evacuation plan. Invasion of Gaza with the potential outcome of outrageous civilian death would dent the image of US.
President Biden is under pressure from center and left to stop the mounting civilian casualties. The war in Gaza is already taking a toll on his re-election bid. Among US Islamic voters, Joe Biden is unpopular. Joe Biden is pressuring Israel to not invade Rafa.
