Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu tells relatives of soldiers held in Gaza that only military pressure will secure their release, and the army is “preparing to enter Rafah”.
“We conquered the north of the Gaza Strip and Khan Younis,” Netanyahu said in a statement, adding a ground invasion of southern Rafah city is coming next, Al Jazeera reported.
Meanwhile, the International Court of Justice’s order for Israel to provide unhindered delivery of aid is not likely to increase the amount of assistance flowing into Gaza unless a ceasefire is reached, analyst Marc Owen Jones has told the Qatar based media.“After the last ICJ provisional measures in January, the amount of aid entering Gaza actually decreased,” the Middle East expert at Hamad bin Khalifa University said. “Just because the ICJ have put this ruling forward doesn’t necessarily mean Israel is going to comply.”
At least 32,552 Palestinians have been killed and 74,980 wounded in Israeli attacks on Gaza since October 7.
On the other hand, the death toll in Israel from Hamas’s October 7 attack stands at 1,139 with dozens still held captive.
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