Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says he has ordered the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) to develop a plan to evacuate the population of the Gaza Strip city of Rafah to make way for a military assault targeting elements of the Hamas terrorist group there.
“It is impossible to achieve the goal of the war of eliminating Hamas by leaving four Hamas battalions in Rafah. On the contrary, it is clear that intense activity in Rafah requires that civilians evacuate the areas of combat,” Mr. Netanyahu’s office said in a Feb. 9 post on X, formerly known as Twitter. “Therefore, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has ordered the IDF and the security establishment to submit to the Cabinet a combined plan for evacuating the population and destroying the battalions.”
