israeli-pm-faces-dilemma-between-gaza-truce-talks-and-rafah-offensive

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is reported to be under constant pressure from the international community, expecting him to accept and agree to the terms of the ongoing truce talks with the Hamas leadership being held in Cairo, Egypt.

 

However, the far-right backers of Netanyahu are also reportedly pressuring the embattled leader to reject a new Gaza truce, threatening his government's survival if he backs down from an assault on Hamas in Rafah," according to latest reports.

 

On one side, he is under pressure from the protesting families, who are constantly asking for his resignation.

 

While his war cabinet tries to pursue him to launch a decisive campaign against the Palestinians in Rafah, which is currently hosting 1.2 million internally displaced refugees.

 

An Israeli source, while briefing the press on the ongoing talks, said, "If a truce is reached, the offensive preparations will be abandoned in favour of a "period of sustained calm" during which a few dozen hostages taken by Hamas will be in exchange for Palestinian inmates.

 

Meanwhile, on Sunday, Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich encouraged Netanyahu not to back down from a ground attack against Hamas in Rafah, warning that if it fails to eliminate Hamas, "a government headed by you will have no right to exist."

 

Smotrich was quickly followed by police minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, who shared on X a Jan. 30 remark: "Reminder: An irresponsible deal = the government's dissolution."

 

Netanyahu's administration and the Israeli Likud party have not responded to the ministers' claims. His representatives were unable to comment on Monday due to the Jewish festival of Passover.

 

However, Benny Gantz, a moderate former defence minister who joined Netanyahu's emergency war cabinet in October, issued his reprimand, claiming that rescuing captives took precedence over an attack on Rafah.

 

Gantz said in a statement that rejecting a sensible compromise to achieve captive release would deprive the administration of legitimacy, given its security failure on October 7 and Israel's demand for hostage repatriation.