Gantz: If Israeli hostages aren't returned by Ramadan, Gaza fighting will expand to Rafah
Minister Benny Gantz speaking on Sunday.Credit: Olivier Fitoussi
Minister Benny Gantz, speaking to North American Jewish organizations, said that if Israel's hostages are not returned by Ramadan, the IDF will expand its fighting to Rafah as well. "The world must know, and the leaders of Hamas must know," he said.
"To those who say the price is too high, I say clearly: Hamas has a choice. They can surrender, release the hostages, and the residents of Gaza can celebrate Ramadan," he said.
Gantz noted that any operation in Rafah will include the evacuation of civilians in co-ordination with Israel's "American and Egyptian partners."
In his speech, Gantz emphasized that "any unilateral actions like recognizing a Palestinian state are not the way to regional stability and political arrangements," adding that those things can only be established by long-term processes that will act against the "Iranian axis" and "improve the lives of all residents in the region." Gantz noted that one such effort is Israel's normalization process with Saudi Arabia, "a step that can be part of the solution."