Israel’s war Cabinet approved an assault on the Gazan city of Rafah after civilians had first been moved out, an indication authorities were prepared to step up their military campaign against Hamas amid ceasefire talks.

With the Rafah offensive looming and a humanitarian crisis in Gaza from insufficient provision of food and medical aid, Belgian Prime Minister Alexander de Croo on Saturday warned Israel against using hunger as a “weapon of war”.

Netanyahu pushes back on Schumer’s ‘inappropriate’ criticisms

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu shot back on Sunday at comments by US Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, who last week called for elections in Israel to remove the current government.

“What he said is totally inappropriate,” Netanyahu said on CNN’s State of the Union, in his first public comments to the Senate floor speech by Schumer, the highest-ranking elected Jewish American in history.  

“The majority of Israelis support our government” and oppose “ramming a Palestinian state down our throat,” Netanyahu said on CNN. “The majority of Israelis support the policies that we’re leading.”

Israel’s leader made an indirect reference in those remarks to Schumer and the call for elections, saying that holding a new ballot would “paralyse the country for at least six months.”

In Thursday’s 44-minute speech, Schumer, a New York Democrat and a decades-long supporter of Israel in Congress, said Netanyahu had become an “obstacle” to peace.

It was an extraordinary public rebuke as concerns grow worldwide about the civilian toll of Israel’s war on Hamas in Gaza, now into its sixth month.

President Joe Biden praised the remarks, saying that Schumer had made a “good speech” while stopping short of endorsing the call for Israeli elections and Netanyahu’s ouster.

On Sunday, John Kirby, spokesman for the White House’s National Security Council, said on ABC’s This Week that the US had to respect the sovereignty of a “democratic country”.

Read more: US sanctions Israel West Bank settlers as Gaza tensions grow  

Israel’s war against Hamas, designated as a terrorist group by the US and the European Union, started after Hamas fighters invaded southern Israel on 7 October, killing about 1,200 men, women and children and taking some 250 hostages. More than 130 of the hostages are still being held in Gaza.

The Hamas-run health ministry says that more than 31,000 people have been killed in Gaza since 7 October. Its estimates don’t differentiate between combatants and civilians.

Israel readies Rafah assault while reviving ceasefire talks 

Israel’s war Cabinet approved an assault on the southern Gazan city of Rafah after civilians had first been moved out, an indication authorities were prepared to step up their military campaign against Hamas amid ceasefire talks. 

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said on Friday that the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) were taking steps to relocate the estimated 1.5 million Palestinians sheltering in the city, an anticipated step ahead of a potential ground operation.

Israel would also send a delegation to Qatar to resume negotiations on a deal for the return of hostages, according to a statement, after a ceasefire proposal submitted earlier by Hamas was said to include unreasonable demands.

“Netanyahu approved the operation plans in Rafah. The IDF is preparing for the operational aspects and for the evacuation of the population,” the prime minister’s office said. “Concerning the hostages — Hamas’ demands are still unfounded.”

Netanyahu vowed in a Cabinet meeting on Sunday to send troops into Rafah.

“If we stop the war now, before all of its goals are achieved, this means that Israel will have lost the war, and this we will not allow,” he said.

Israeli officials have repeatedly said they need to exert the maximum amount of pressure on Hamas to persuade the Iran-backed group to agree to a hostage deal.

Moving civilians out of Rafah could be a hugely complex task. Some Israeli officials have said in private it could take many days, if not longer, while there is no clear indication of where they would go. Netanyahu has vowed that a military attack on the city won’t happen until after civilians have been allowed to leave.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the US still hadn’t seen Israel’s plan to move civilians from Rafah. Asked about the ceasefire negotiations, he told a briefing in Vienna that a Hamas counter-proposal and Israel’s decision to send a delegation to the talks “reflects the sense both of possibility and of urgency to get an agreement”.

The Rafah plans are likely to increase tensions between Israel and the US, a major ally and military backer. Biden has urged Israel not to invade the city.

More than 1.5 million people are sheltering in Rafah, according to the UN, equivalent to three-quarters of Gaza’s pre-war population. Many are living on the streets in makeshift tents.

The US and other allies had urged Israel to abandon the operation to allow for a ceasefire and humanitarian aid, but Israeli officials think Hamas’ leadership is there, as well as the hostages taken during the group’s 7 October assault.

With an offensive on Rafah looming and a humanitarian crisis in Gaza from insufficient provision of food and medical aid, Belgian Prime Minister Alexander de Croo on Saturday warned Israel against using hunger as a “weapon of war”.

Israel says it is doing all it can to facilitate the flow of food and medical supplies into Gaza and is putting no limits on the amount of aid. Bottlenecks were due to a lack of sufficient capacity by the UN organisations to distribute the aid inside Gaza, Israel has said. DM

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