The Prime Minister of Israel has decided to begin a ground operation in the city of Rafah and has already started plans to invade the city that now has close to one and a half million people jammed into a small town south of Gaza City and Khan Yunis from which people fled due to death from above by relentless aerial bombardment.
Today, the Prime Minister defied President Biden’s warning not to cross a red line to protect civilian life before any offensive began in the besieged city just a few days ago.
The Washington Post reported that Palestinian civilians would be directed to “safe zones,” according to Israeli sources.
Netanyahu dismissed Hamas's cease-fire proposal to release the hostages vicious Hamas terrorists had kidnapped from Israel on October 7th as "ludicrous." The war cabinet voted for the invasion shortly after cease-fire talks shut down.
The decision was made as a ship towing a barge loaded with food arrived off Gaza on Friday. It was a test run for a new aid route by sea from Cyprus into the devastated Palestinian territory, where famine looms after five months of Israel’s military campaign.
Any attack on Rafah is likely to cause civilian casualties and worsen an already acute humanitarian crisis across Gaza.
Germany’s foreign affairs minister, Annalena Baerbock, tweeted: “A large-scale offensive in #Rafah cannot be justified. Over a million refugees have sought protection there and have nowhere to go. A humanitarian truce is needed immediately so that more people don’t die and the hostages are finally released.”
Netanyahu made the decision after a meeting of Israel’s war cabinet to discuss a new proposal from Hamas for a ceasefire.
Food supplies have trickled in due to airdrops from donor nations, but they have not reduced the famine in the Gaza Strip. Malnutrition, disease, and dehydration are rampant.
A nonprofit vessel delivered 200 tons of food from Cyprus to Gaza. IDF reports the food was unloaded. According to the World Central Kitchen, the food is destined for Northern Gaza, where starvation is most acute.
Celebrity chef José Andrés and his World Central Kitchen nonprofit have sent aid to Gaza, shipping almost 200 tons of food this week to Palestinians. The organization shipped the food from Cyprus on the Open Arms ship, which belongs to a Spanish nonprofit that helps vulnerable people in emergency situations.
In his speech, Chuck Schumer called for new elections in Israel and the removal of Netanyahu and his government from office. President Biden embraced the Majority Leader's comments.
Washington — President Biden praised Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer's speech that criticized Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, calling it "a good speech," though he declined to elaborate.
Mr. Biden said Friday the White House was given advance notice of Schumer's speech, in which the New York Democrat and highest-ranking Jewish elected official in the U.S. called Netanyahu a "major obstacle to peace" and said he "lost his way by allowing his political survival to take the precedence over the best interests of Israel."
"He has been too willing to tolerate the civilian toll in Gaza, which is pushing support for Israel worldwide to historic lows," Schumer said Thursday in a speech on the Senate floor. "Israel cannot survive if it becomes a pariah."
Schumer, who has long supported Israel, also called on its government to hold a new election, saying many Israelis have lost confidence in their government and it was "the only way to allow for a healthy and open decision making process about the future of Israel.
The Earthquake That Could Shatter Netanyahu’s Coalition
Since Israel was founded in 1948, it has fielded a citizens’ army with mandatory Jewish conscription—and one very notable exception: Ultra-Orthodox, or Haredi, yeshiva students do not serve. This dispensation dates back to David Ben-Gurion, the country’s first prime minister. A secular Jewish socialist, he saw Israel’s ultra-Orthodox as the dying remnant of an old world, and when the community’s leadership requested an exemption from the draft, Ben-Gurion calculated that it was a small price to pay for their support. At the time, the ultra-Orthodox constituted about 1 percent of Israel’s population, and the exemption applied to just 400 young men in religious seminaries.
That was then. Today the Haredi community numbers some 1.2 million, more than 13 percent of Israel’s total population. And because this community has the highest birth rate in the country, its ranks will only swell. In other words, the fastest-growing group in Israeli society does not serve in its armed forces. Since October 7, the divide has been thrown into stark relief. After Hamas massacred 1,200 Israelis and kidnapped hundreds more, the country initiated one of the largest mobilizations in its history. Children and spouses departed their families for the front, leaving fear and uncertainty in their absence. Nearly 250 soldiers have since been killed, and thousands more injured. Many Israelis spend their evenings at home fretting about that ominous knock on the door.
Meanwhile, Haredi life has largely continued as usual, untouched by the war and its toll. Yeshiva students have even been photographed enjoying ski vacations abroad while their same-age peers are on the battlefield. Some ultra-Orthodox individuals do voluntarily serve in the army, and others act as first responders, but their numbers are small enough to be a rounding error. In February, a record-high 66,000 military-age Haredi men received exemptions; just 540 had enlisted since the war began. Put another way, more Arab Israelis serve in the Israel Defense Forces than ultra-Orthodox Jews.
The Haredi carve-out has long rankled Israel’s secular citizens. Yair Lapid, the center-left opposition leader and past prime minister, rose to prominence in 2012 on a campaign that promised “equality of the burden.” Before him, the right-wing politician Avigdor Lieberman built his secular Russian constituency on a similar pledge. But what has changed since October 7 is that this discontent is no longer emanating solely from the usual suspects, such as the left-wing Eretz Nehederet, but from supporters of the current governing coalition, including the more modern religious right.