Israeli Minister of National Security Itamar Ben-Gvir, a right-wing extremist who is quite influential in the government, he wrote on Monday on
Rafah is the last city in the Gaza Strip not yet occupied by the Israeli army as part of the invasion of the Strip which began after the October 7 attack carried out on Israeli territory by the Palestinian group Hamas. There are currently 1.3 million Palestinian refugees in Rafah and the international community is strongly against a land invasion, due to the dramatic consequences that the concentration of civilians in the area would have.
Ben-Gvir wrote the tweet after the Israeli government significantly reduced its troop presence in the southern Gaza Strip on Saturday, with those in an active combat role withdrawing from Khan Yunis. In the following hours, several members of the Israeli government, including Netanyahu and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, said that this withdrawal was functional to the imminent invasion of Rafah. However, many speculated that this decision had to do with the pressure the United States is exerting on Israel to end the war, or otherwise reduce its intensity. One of the main concerns expressed recently by the US government was precisely that of the consequences of a land attack on Rafah.
In addition to international pressure, however, Netanyahu also has to manage the internal pressure that comes from his government, formally it is a government of national unity, but which is still dominated by extremist forces, as before the war. In fact, among its members are ministers who are in favor of an uncompromising continuation of the war in the Strip: Itamar Ben-Gvir, one of the most extremist figures in the Israeli political class, had recently threatened to resign if an agreement was reached with Hamas to stop the invasion, which the international community has been working on for months.