Sunday, February 18, 2024

Gantz: Israel will launch Rafah offensive if hostages not returned by Ramadan

  The Times of Israel   

Gantz’s comments came hours after the cabinet approved a statement rejecting unilateral steps by countries toward the establishment of a Palestinian state, which the government described as a “massive, unprecedented prize for terror.”


"If hostages held in Gaza are not freed within the next few weeks, Israel will broaden its offensive in southern Gaza and push into the city of Rafah on the Egyptian border, war cabinet member Benny Gantz warned on Sunday.

“The world must know, and Hamas leaders must know — if by Ramadan our hostages are not home, the fighting will continue everywhere, to include the Rafah area,” Gantz said.

"The holy Muslim month of Ramadan begins this year on March 10.

“ 'We will do so in a coordinated manner, facilitating the evacuation of civilians in dialogue with our American and Egyptian partners to minimize civilian casualties,” the former IDF chief of staff and defense minister told the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, as they convened in Jerusalem.

“To those saying the price [of an offensive] is too high, I say this very clearly: Hamas has a choice — they can surrender, release the hostages, and the citizens of Gaza will be able to celebrate the holy holiday of Ramadan,” he said.

"Rafah, which sits on the Gaza-Egypt border, is the last remaining Hamas stronghold in the enclave, but it is also where over a million displaced Palestinians have fled to seek shelter from fighting elsewhere." . . .

Freed hostage Aviva Siegel recounts Hamas's sexual abuse, violence toward captives | The Times of Israel  


  . . ."Siegel said that when “three particularly young girls” took up the guards’ offer of a shower, the condition was that they would bathe together, with an open door and the terrorists watching.

"Siegel said that in another instance, a young female hostage was ordered at gunpoint to accompany a guard, who then pulled her by the hair, tossing her to the floor, as he and three other terrorists beat her with a stick.

“They hit her entire body, and she didn’t say a word,” Siegel said. “When she returned and I asked ‘how did you not scream?’ she said, ‘I didn’t want to give them the satisfaction [of knowing] that they hurt me.'”

These girls will never recover from Hamas abuse and will be scarred for life. Do Democrats in Congress and leftists on campuses know this?  TD

Riots at Rafah Crossing after Gaza teen trying to grab aid is shot dead by Hamas | The Times of Israel

No comments: