Israeli Officials: Attack on Rafah "Not Imminent"

Israeli officials told the American news network CNN on Monday that the anticipated Israeli attack on the city of Rafah in southern Gaza "is not imminent." The officials, whose names were not mentioned by CNN, stated that the Israeli army has not yet mobilized the necessary forces to proceed with the Rafah attack, nor has it finalized plans to evacuate civilians from the city. They added that "the necessary troop mobilization can be activated in a short time, and a large civilian evacuation process is expected to take at least two weeks." Military and political officials indicated that the Israeli Cabinet has not yet signed off on the plans presented by the army for evacuation and incursion. However, they warned that an attack on Rafah during Ramadan is not out of the question. Israel has repeatedly confirmed to the U.S. administration that it will carry out a civilian evacuation before launching an attack on what Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu described as "the last stronghold of Hamas," referring to Rafah. The city has become a focus of international concern, as Israel insists on a military invasion despite hosting around 1.5 million displaced Palestinians. More than half of the population of Gaza has fled to Rafah during the war, escaping the violent Israeli attacks that resulted in the deaths of over 31,000 Palestinians.