Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich demanded the occupation of the Palestinian city of Rafah and control of its crossing as well as the Philadelphi Corridor.
Smotrich added in a tweet on the “X” platform on Tuesday: “This is the right time to put more and more pressure on the necks of Sinwar and Hamas until they are eliminated.”
“We must not surrender to international pressure and not stop until victory and the enemy surrender.”
The Israeli Finance Minister said that, “This war is our war of independence and we must win it.”
He added, “In order for this to happen and for us to be able to cut off the oxygen pipelines to Hamas, we must act today according to three points that will restore security to the residents of the south: the complete occupation of the city and the Rafah area, the destruction of all tunnel networks in the city of Rafah and the surrounding area, and the complete takeover of the Philadelphi Corridor and Rafah crossing.”
An Israeli official said on Tuesday that a “medium-level” Israeli team was heading to Cairo to assess Hamas’ position on the ceasefire.
Reuters quoted the Israeli official at the time as saying, “The delegation will travel to Egypt in the coming hours to evaluate the possibility of convincing Hamas to change its position regarding the proposal it agreed to for a ceasefire, indicating that the proposal does not suit Israel.”
He added that the delegation is composed of mid-level envoys, and if a real agreement is reached in the near future, senior officials will head the delegation.
The Hamas movement announced on Monday that it had informed the Qatari and Egyptian mediators of its approval on their proposal for a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip.
On the other hand, the Israeli army announced on Tuesday that it had taken control of the Palestinian part of Rafah crossing, cut off the road between the crossing and Philadelphi Road, and bombed 100 targets overnight.
The Israeli incursion came despite international and UN opposition over a humanitarian catastrophe in the area inhabited by approximately 1.5 million Palestinians, and the day after Israel issued evacuation orders for about 100,000 Gazans in the eastern parts of Rafah, who were asked to evacuate to a safe area near Khan Yunis, north of Rafah.
