IDF tanks rolled into Rafah in southern Gaza Tuesday as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed to defeat remaining forces of Hamas he claimed were located there.
The Palestinian city situated on Gaza’s border with Egypt is also home to an estimated 1.7 million Palestinians, most of them refugees from throughout the territory seeking shelter amid Israel’s seven month-long military agression.
Observers had hoped ongoing negotiations between Israeli and Palestinian leaders would prevent the invasion, but right-wing members of Netanyahu’s coalition have repeatedly insisted on an assault on the city.
“Netanyahu and the war cabinet have not appeared to approach the latest phase of negotiations [with Hamas] in good faith,” admitted one Biden administration official after Israel rejected a compromise deal drawn up with the assistance of Egypt and Qatar.
The embattled US president has alternately supported and expressed concern over Israel’s war in Gaza, walking a tightrope between Zionist and pro-Palestinian constituencies within the Democratic Party. Republicans, meanwhile, have remained mostly united in their enthusiastic backing of Netanyahu in line with the heavy Christian Zionist influence within the party.
Republican leaders in the Senate expressed their support this week in an open letter that has raised eyebrows as the tide of public opinion continues to turn against Israel’s deadly Gaza campaign. Author and journalist Robert Fantino joined Sputnik’s The Critical Hour program Tuesday to discuss the surprising statement and Israel’s latest escalation in the occupied Palestinian territory.
“This invasion is the apex, or the peak of [Israel’s] genocidal efforts and behavior in Gaza,” lamented Fantino. “It is awful. I'm in contact with a couple of people in Gaza, they're terrified by the constant bombings. These are people with children, young children who are absolutely terrified, so frightened. The adults are unable to protect them.”
Egypt does not want them,” he added, noting the concern that Israel will attempt to displace Palestinians into the Sinai Desert. “Egypt believes, rightly, that this number you mentioned – between 50,000 and 250,000 that might flee into Egypt – will be there forever, that there will be no going back to Gaza, that Israel will not allow it. This is a horrifying and shocking event, one that never should have happened.”
Host Garland Nixon noted the letter released by a group of Republican Senators Monday as rumors spread that the International Criminal Court will issue an arrest warrant for Netanyahu and members of his cabinet responsible for the country’s abuses in Gaza.
The missive threatens “severe sanctions” on both officials of the international body and their family members if the court moves against Israeli officials, referencing a law authorizing the United States to invade ICC premises in The Hague.
MNA/
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