JERUSALEM: Israel鈥檚 Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said that more troops would 鈥渆nter Rafah鈥� as military operations intensify in Gaza鈥檚 far-southern city, in remarks issued by his office Thursday.
The operation 鈥渨ill continue as additional forces will enter鈥� the Rafah area, Gallant said, adding that 鈥渟everal tunnels in the area have been destroyed by our troops... this activity will intensify.鈥�
鈥淗undreds of [terror] targets have already been struck, and our forces are manoeuvring in the area,鈥� he said according to a statement released by his office after he visited Rafah the previous day.
Israeli forces took control earlier in May of the Gaza side of the Rafah crossing with Egypt, in a push launched in defiance of US warnings that around 1.4 million civilians sheltering there could be caught in the crossfire.
The United Nations agency for Palestinian refugees, UNRWA, has said 鈥�600,000 people have fled Rafah since military operations intensified鈥� in Rafah.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has vowed to launch a full-scale ground operation in Rafah in a bid to dismantle the remaining battalions of Hamas.
Gallant said that the military鈥檚 offensive against Hamas had hit the militant group hard.
鈥淗amas is not an organization that can reorganize, it does not have reserve troops, it has no supply stocks and no ability to treat the terrorists that we target,鈥� he said.
鈥淭he result is that we are wearing Hamas down.鈥�
However, Israel鈥檚 top ally the United States has warned that it had not seen any credible Israeli plan to protect civilians in Rafah.
Secretary of State Antony Blinken told NBC on Sunday that 鈥淚srael鈥檚 on the trajectory, potentially, to inherit an insurgency with many armed Hamas left or, if it leaves, a vacuum filled by chaos, filled by anarchy and probably refilled by Hamas.鈥�
The Gaza war broke out after Hamas鈥檚 unprecedented October 7 attack on southern Israel which resulted in the deaths of more than 1,170 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on Israeli official figures.
Israel鈥檚 military retaliation has killed at least 35,272 people, mostly civilians, according to the health ministry in Hamas-ruled Gaza.