Elements of the evacuation of Rafah were moving into place on Wednesday, yet Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the war cabinet still had not approved the attack operation against Hamas’s remaining four battalions there as proposed by the IDF.
Prior to the IDF’s withdrawal from Khan Yunis on April 7, there were around 1.4 million Palestinians in Rafah, mostly civilians, who would need to be evacuated for an invasion to go forward.
By April 9, The Jerusalem Post had confirmed that Israel had purchased 40,000 additional tents to help set up a tent city in advance of the expected Rafah evacuation.
Shin Bet head, Chief of Staff discussed Rafah op. with Egyptian officials
Egypt is also unofficially making preparations for an evacuation of Palestinians within Gaza so as to avoid them flooding into Egypt in large numbers. In this regard, the Post confirmed a meeting on Wednesday between senior Cairo officials, IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi, and Shin Bet Director Ronen Bar.
Reuters said that Palestinians would be required to evacuate in the next four to five weeks to the tent complexes that international aid organizations are setting up, but there has been a debate between Israeli and US officials about whether the evacuation will happen that quickly or drag out for months.
Despite all of these preparations moving forward and both the IDF and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant pressing for the invasion to go forward, Netanyahu and likely war cabinet minister Benny Gantz were still weighing whether to give the invasion a green light or to engage in further negotiations with the US and Egypt regarding aspects of the invasion and evacuation.
Opposition from Washington and Cairo to any invasion that risked significant Palestinian civilian casualties or civilians streaming into Egyptian territory has held up the potential invasion, already seriously discussed in late 2023, for months.
As in Khan Yunis, where the city was divided into north, south, east, and west, the IDF would split Rafah into sectors and move from one sector to the next, each time evacuating one regional sector, as opposed to a chaotic full evacuation all at once.
At each stage, the IDF will inform the local population before advancing into each area, allowing them to evacuate before the army moves forward.
On April 18, the IDF announced the return of two reservist brigades to Gaza, potentially to assist with an invasion of Rafah or a small slice of central Gaza still controlled by one to two Hamas battalions.
IDF Division 99 will command the 2nd Reserve Brigade of the 146th Division and the 679th Reserve Brigade of the 210th Division, which will both be administratively transferred from the Lebanon border to the Gaza Strip.
Process for approving the plan
The IDF approved the latest plan for the Rafah operation at the beginning of this week after three previous plans were suggested. The US government has expressed firm opposition to an operation in Rafah without a credible plan to protect civilians.
“We are preparing to establish a joint operation with the United States. We understand the concern, but we will not be able to complete the mission without entering Rafah, which could also help relieve pressure on the hostage issue,” an Israeli official stated.
Amid preparations for the Rafah operation, government officials reportedly continue to discuss potential changes to Israel’s side of the hostage deal negotiations to ensure the deal’s advancement.
Also on Wednesday, two rockets were fired from Gaza toward Sderot, and a house was hit by shrapnel from an interceptor, according to the Sderot Municipality.
No injuries were reported from the rocket fire, although several people received treatment for anxiety.
Meanwhile, the IDF said that Division 162 has continued attacks on Hamas in Gaza, including around 50 aerial attacks on Tuesday-Wednesday.
In addition to those more general attacks, the IDF also attacked two rocket-launching platforms located in a humanitarian zone in southern Gaza.
The IDF said that it used various unspecified means to try to evacuate nearby civilians before attacking the zone.
It added that the Nahal Brigade continued to attack terror locations in central Gaza near the corridor that the IDF is maintaining to keep northern and southern Gaza cut off from each other.
Reuters contributed to this report.