Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced that Israel will declare the end of the Rafah operation within days. According to an Israeli report, Israel intends to announce the conclusion of its ground military operation, which has been ongoing for nearly two months in the city of Rafah in southern Gaza, and transition to the next phase of the war that it has been conducting in Gaza since October 7.
On Sunday evening, Netanyahu held special security discussions in this context at the Israeli army's southern command headquarters, with participation from Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, Chief of Staff Herzl Halevi, and other leaders from the General Staff.
Earlier, Israeli Channel 13 reported that "Israel is expected to announce in the coming days the end of the operation in Rafah and the end of the war in its current form." The report added that "Netanyahu is currently in discussions with senior military officials regarding the end of the operation in Rafah and the expected dramatic change in the conduct of the war."
According to the channel, this means a transition to a phase of targeted raids and incursions accompanied by airstrikes. Netanyahu had confirmed in an interview with Channel 14 last week that the current battles (intense and heavy fighting) his army is engaged in in Rafah "are about to end."
Netanyahu stated that "the violent phase of the fighting against Hamas is nearing its end. This does not mean that the war is about to end, but the war in its violent phase is close to concluding in Rafah." He mentioned in his first interview with an Israeli television channel since the start of the war that "after the violent phase ends, we will redeploy some of our forces to the north."
