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Benjamin Netanyahu's unexpected visit to Gaza

2024-07-18 21:12:00, Kosova & Bota CNA

Benjamin Netanyahu's unexpected visit to Gaza

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu attends Israel's parliament deliberations on July 17, 2024/Reuters

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met with Israeli forces stationed in Gaza on Thursday in an unannounced visit to the southern part of the region, his office announced. The visit comes just days before Mr Netanyahu is due to address the US Congress.

The announcement of Prime Minister Netanyahu's visit to the southern Gaza Strip town of Rafah came hours after Israel's far-right national security minister, Itamar Ben-Gvir, visited the most sensitive holy site in Jerusalem. . Minister Ben-Gvir's action could disrupt sensitive negotiations aimed at reaching a ceasefire in the nine-month war between Israel and Hamas.

Ultra-nationalist settler leader Ben-Gvir said he went to the sensitive country to plead for the return of the Israeli hostages "but without a reckless deal, without surrender." Israeli negotiators arrived in Cairo on Wednesday to work on the talks.

Tensions at the holy site have fueled waves of violence in the past. The Palestinian Foreign Ministry condemned Mr. Ben-Gvir's visit as a "provocative intervention" that endangers the fragile status quo in this place in Jerusalem, which Jews and Muslims consider sacred and an important national symbol.

The two leaders' visit comes just hours after Israel's parliament overwhelmingly passed a resolution rejecting the creation of a Palestinian state. The vote, in an all-night session that continued into Thursday morning, was symbolic and meant to send a message ahead of Prime Minister Netanyahu's trip to the United States.

Mr Netanyahu's office announced his visit to Rafah only after the prime minister had left the war-torn Palestinian territory. He later released a statement stressing that "only military pressure helps us advance the hostage agreement."

Israeli forces occupied Rafah in early May, forcing the 2 million Palestinians sheltering there to leave. The town of Rafah, once an important entry point for humanitarian aid, has now turned into a ghost town of bullet-riddled buildings, blasted walls and broken windows. Very few civilians are left in this city.

Israeli leaders have signaled that the Rafah operation is nearing completion - a step that is expected to lead to a new, lower-intensity phase of the war and could improve the conditions for a ceasefire. In the past, Israel has stated that Rafah remains the last significant stronghold of Hamas in Gaza.

Israeli strikes overnight Thursday in central Gaza left at least 11 dead, according to the Hamas-led Civil Defense organization and hospitals. At least two children and two women were killed in airstrikes on a house and a car.

The last few weeks. Israel has increased its attacks in central Gaza, where many Palestinians have fled to avoid fighting in other parts of the territory. The Israeli military said it has targeted a senior commander of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad militant group in Gaza City and another commander responsible for attacks in the town of Shijaijah.

Standing in front of the golden dome of the Al-Aqsa Mosque, Minister Ben-Gvir said on Thursday that he was "praying and working hard" to ensure that Mr Netanyahu would not give in to international pressure and continue the military campaign in Gaza. Mr. Ben-Gvir has frequently visited the country during periods of conflict, prompting a backlash. The last time he visited this country was in May to protest the decision of the countries that unilaterally recognized the Palestinian state.

As security minister, Mr. Ben-Gvir oversees the country's police force. As the main coalition partner, he has the power to deprive Mr. Netanyahu of his parliamentary majority and force him into early elections.

On Friday, the UN's International Criminal Court is expected to issue an advisory opinion on the legality of Israel's 57-year occupation of the Palestinian territories, a legal case unrelated to the current war between Israel and Hamas.

Israel also announced that it had killed Mohammad Hamed Jabbara, the top commander of the Islamic Group, linked to Hamas and other militant groups in Lebanon.

The war in Gaza, which was sparked by a Hamas attack on Israeli settlements on October 7, has killed 38,600 people, according to the Gaza Health Ministry, which does not distinguish between militant and civilian casualties. The war has caused a humanitarian catastrophe in the Gaza Strip, displacing most of the territory's 2.3 million population.

One thousand two hundred people, most of whom were civilians, were killed as a result of the Hamas attack, and the militants took another 250 people hostage. About 120 of them continue to be in the hands of militants, according to Israeli authorities who believe that about a third of them have died./ VOA