Jerusalem, July 18: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu made a surprise visit to troops in southern Gaza on Thursday, his office said, just days before he was set to give a speech to the US Congress.
Netanyahu’s visit to the southern city of Rafah was announced hours after Israel’s far-right national security minister, Itamar Ben-Gvir, visited Jerusalem’s most sensitive holy site. Ben Gvir’s move could disrupt sensitive talks aimed at reaching a cease-fire in the 9-month-old Israel-Hamas war.
Ben-Gvir, an ultranationalist settler leader, said he went up to the flashpoint site to pray for the return of Israeli hostages “but without a reckless deal, without surrendering.” Israeli negotiators landed in Cairo on Wednesday to keep working on the talks.
Tensions over the compound have fuelled past rounds of violence. The Palestinian Foreign Ministry condemned Ben-Gvir’s visit as a “provocative intrusion” that endangered the fragile status quo regarding the Jerusalem compound, which is revered by Jews as the Temple Mount and by Muslims as Haram al-Sharif, a holy site and important national symbol.
The two leaders’ visits came hours after Israel’s parliament overwhelmingly passed a resolution rejecting the establishment of a Palestinian state. The vote, in an overnight session that lasted into Thursday morning, was largely symbolic and meant to send a message ahead of Netanyahu’s trip to the United States.
Netanyahu’s office announced his visit to Rafah once the prime minister had exited the war-torn Palestinian territory, and he later released a statement emphasising that “only the military pressure helps us advance the hostage deal.” Israeli forces invaded Rafah in early May, forcing most of the 2 million Palestinians sheltering there to flee. Rafah, once a crucial entry point for humanitarian aid, is now a dusty ghost town full of bullet-riddled apartment buildings with blasted-out walls and shattered windows. Very few civilians remain.
Israeli leaders have signalled the Rafah operation is close to finished – a step that is expected to lead to a new, lower-intensity phase of the war and could possibly improve conditions for a cease-fire. Israel has previously said Rafah was Hamas’ last major stronghold in Gaza.
Overnight Israeli strikes Thursday in central Gaza killed at least 11 people, according to the Hamas-run Civil Defence organisation and hospitals. (AP)
