Israel army proposes evacuation plan as PM Netanyahu vows push into Gaza's far-south
Israel's military proposed a plan Monday for «evacuating» civilians from the Gaza Strip, after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said a ground invasion of the Palestinian territory's southern city Rafah was necessary for «total victory».
Foreign governments and aid organisations have repeatedly expressed fears that such an operation will inflict mass civilian casualties in Rafah, where around 1.4 million Palestinians — most of them displaced from other areas — have converged.
It is also the entry point for desperately needed aid, brought in via neighbouring Egypt.
Israel's military «presented the War Cabinet with a plan for evacuating the population from areas of fighting in the Gaza Strip, and with the upcoming operational plan», a statement in Hebrew from Netayahu's office said Monday.
The statement did not give any details about how or where the civilians would be moved.
The announcement comes after Egyptian, Qatari and US «experts» met in Doha for talks also attended by Israeli and Hamas representatives, state-linked Egyptian media said, the latest effort to secure a truce before the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.
Israel's ally the United States said ongoing mediation efforts produced «an understanding» towards a ceasefire and hostage release, while a Hamas source said the group insisted on the withdrawal of Israeli forces.
But Netanyahu said a ground invasion of Rafah would put Israel within weeks of «total victory» over Hamas, whose October 7 attack triggered the war.
«If we have a (truce) deal, it will
