Member of Hamas’s political bureau Ezzat El-Rashq yesterday warned that any military operation in Rafah will disrupt the ongoing negotiations and will harm Israel, Quds Press reported.

He went on to hold Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his government fully responsible for the consequences of an Israeli invasion of Rafah.

Israeli occupation forces yesterday dropped leaflets ordering Palestinians in the eastern areas of Gaza’s southernmost city of Rafah to flee ahead of a ground invasion. Some 1.5 million Palestinians were forced from their homes across the Strip since October 2023 and took refuge in Rafah. Any military operation in the area, the UN has warned, could lead to a “massacre”.

Hamas stated in a press release earlier on Monday that the actions taken by the occupying army, in preparation for an attack on the densely populated city of Rafah, are a Zionist crime that confirms the determination of the terrorist Netanyahu government to continue its genocidal war against Palestinians in Gaza.

This, it added, does not take into consideration the ongoing humanitarian catastrophe in the blockaded Strip, or the fate of the prisoners of war being held in Gaza.

Source: Middle East Monitor