US greenlights Israeli raid in Rafah amid plans to deter Iran

The Arabic-language service Al-Araby Al-Jadeed reports that the USA has approved an Israeli military operation plan in Rafah. In return, Israel is to refrain from carrying out a significant retaliatory attack on Iran.

Al-Araby Al-Jadeed, a pan-Arab news service based in London and owned by the Qatari firm Fadaat Media, states that the Israeli plan involves dividing Rafah into numbered sections, with one area being attacked after another. This strategy aims to prompt evacuations, especially towards Khan Yunis and the Al Mawasi region. The report cites an unnamed Egyptian source.

Egyptian authorities are already preparing for the Israeli operation by expanding the capacity and the volume of aid being sent to camps in Khan Yunis, managed by the Egyptian Red Crescent.

The Times of Israel service highlighted on Thursday that, according to the Israeli military's assessment, Rafah, a city situated in the Gaza Strip along the border with Egypt, hosts four battalions of Hamas militants. It's also suspected that Rafah is a hiding place for leaders of the Palestinian terrorist organization and that hostages taken from Israel in October are held in the city. Despite this, Rafah and its surrounding areas are a refuge for over a million residents from the northern regions of the Gaza Strip.

Benjamin Netanyahu, the Prime Minister of Israel, has frequently discussed plans for a military operation in Rafah. He indicated that it had been approved and recently mentioned that a start date had been determined.

World leaders are expressing concern over the potential execution of such an operation. They worry about civilian casualties that could result from a significant military effort targeting Hamas and smaller allied terrorist groups, as well as the potential escalation of conflict in the Middle East. This escalation could follow in response to Israel's reaction to a considerable aerial assault carried out by Iran last Saturday.