Israel threatens to follow through on threat to invade Rafah
Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu says Israel will launch an invasion of the southern Gaza city of Rafah regardless of truce talks with Hamas.
His threat on Tuesday comes amid ongoing attempts to try to reach an agreement for a ceasefire and hostage releases.
The comments also follow renewed warnings by the US against a Rafah invasion unless civilians were properly protected.
UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres who says an assault on Rafah would be an “unbearable escalation”, appealed to all those with influence over Israel to do everything in their power to prevent such a move
More than half of Gaza’s 2.5m population is in Rafah, having fled there to escape fighting in other parts of the territory.
Conditions in the overcrowded city are dire with displaced persons lacking food, water and medication.