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Israel Must Enter Rafah to Defeat Hamas and Prevent Future Terror Attacks
Trucks carrying aid are seen near the Rafah border in Gaza after entering from Egypt, October 10, 2023. Photo: Sinai for Human Rights/Handout via REUTERS/File Photo
I almost walked past it, yet it’s been seared into my brain ever since. While visiting a Palestinian town in the West Bank two years ago, my eyes landed on a handwritten memorial to Gazan children killed during the 2014 Israel-Hamas war. Jewish tradition teaches that one life is equal to an entire world. And there I was, staring at a list of entire worlds destroyed far too soon, in the most tragic circumstances.
I say this not to make a grand emotional gesture, but to point out that as someone with countless family and friends in the region — and who visited Israel as recently as December — I’m all-too aware of what’s at stake, both for Israelis and Palestinians. And that is exactly why I believe Israel must carry out its mission against Hamas to the fullest, including in Rafah.
How soon the Israel Defense Forces should move into Rafah is up for debate. So too is how Israel can simultaneously best protect innocent Gazans. (Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has repeatedly emphasized that a major incursion into the southern Gaza city will come alongside a plan to evacuate civilians from Rafah; on March 13 the IDF announced it would direct displaced Palestinians in Rafah toward “humanitarian islands” in central Gaza.)
But what is clear is that Israel’s mission to end Hamas’ rule in Gaza will be incomplete if it leaves Hamas’ Rafah battalions intact. This would be a disaster for Israelis, Palestinians, and their Arab neighbors alike.
Israel’s conduct in this war has always been motivated by the understanding that, after inflicting the atrocities of October 7, Hamas cannot remain as a ruling military power on the Jewish state’s border.
The rationale was never revenge, nor perpetuating Netanyahu’s rule. (Contrary to misconceptions in the West, Israelis overwhelmingly support the war effort despite their simultaneous disdain towards their prime minister). Israelis recognize, as Amir Tibon of the staunchly left-wing Haaretz put it, that “a country that doesn’t retaliate in the most forceful way after terrorists kidnap an eight year old from her bed, simply won’t exist. Especially not in the Middle East.”
But it’s not just Israel’s future that relies on toppling Hamas. As long as Hamas retains power in Gaza, Palestinians will never have their own state. Israel’s presence in the West Bank, and all its accompanying injustices, will continue, with Israelis refusing to risk the West Bank — which overlooks Israel’s major population centers — being taken over by Hamas. (As a reminder, Hamas has consistently declared its intention to repeat the October 7 massacre until it eliminates the Jewish State.)
As The Times of Israel’s Haviv Rettig Gur recently observed, Israel leaving Gaza without uprooting Hamas from Rafah would prompt a “Taliban retaking of Afghanistan moment” in the enclave, dooming Israelis and Gazans to further rounds of brutal fighting.
As for Lebanon, Hezbollah, whose training and firepower make Hamas look like amateurs, would understand that Israel, lacking the resolve to destroy Hamas, will be similarly unable to prevent Hezbollah from setting Tel Aviv and Jerusalem on fire. And if you think Israel’s response in Gaza has been ferocious, just watch what happens to Beirut when Hezbollah begins bombing hospitals and schools in Tel Aviv.
That’s to say nothing of Yemen’s Houthis, and the numerous other terror groups throughout the Middle East — all backed by Iranian ayatollahs who thrive on regional instability. It was not for nothing that, on October 10, US President Joe Biden declared “to any country, any organization, anyone thinking of taking advantage of the situation. I have one word: Don’t.”
Put simply, Israel’s failure to overthrow Hamas in Gaza has the potential to set the region alight.
While we’re here, it’s worth noting that the intensifying calls for Israel to end its war have little connection to Israel’s conduct in Gaza, and much more to do with society’s preference for dead Jews over Jews who fight back. A quick test: if you’ve only discovered your dismay at the destruction caused by urban warfare now that Jews are involved, ask yourself why.
Indeed, what we are witnessing today is a repeat of the same phenomenon that has occurred in every Gaza war since Hamas took power in 2007: the world has never allowed Israel to unequivocally win. The only way for this vicious cycle of violence to end is to reverse that trend, and let Israel topple Hamas.
Calling on Israel to stay out of Rafah may seem like the humanitarian thing to do. The number of deaths is tragic; the suffering of those still alive is horrible. But as Haviv Rettig Gur explained, “if Hamas remains standing” in Rafah, “then the entire war will have been for nothing.” All those Gazans and Israelis will have died in vain. And the world, having pressured Israel to abandon its war, will be to blame.
Josh Feldman is an Australian writer who focuses primarily on Israeli and Jewish issues. Twitter: @joshrfeldman
The post Israel Must Enter Rafah to Defeat Hamas and Prevent Future Terror Attacks first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Security Warning to Israelis Vacationing Abroad Ahead of holidays
A passenger arrives to a terminal at Ben Gurion international airport before Israel bans international flights, January 25, 2021. REUTERS/Ronen Zvulun
i24 News – Ahead of the Jewish High Holidays, Israel’s National Security Council (NSC) published the latest threat assessment to Israelis abroad from terrorist groups to the public on Sunday, in order to increase the Israeli public’s awareness of the existing terrorist threats around the world and encourage individuals to take preventive action accordingly.
The NSC specified that the warning is an up-to-date reflection of the main trends in the activities of terrorist groups around the world and their impact on the level of threat posed to Israelis abroad during these times, but the travel warnings and restrictions themselves are not new.
“As the Gaza war continues and in parallel with the increasing threat of terrorism, the National Security Headquarters stated it has recognized a trend of worsening and increasing violent antisemitic incidents and escalating steps by anti-Israel groups, to the point of physically harming Israelis and Jews abroad. This is in light of, among other things, the anti-Israel narrative and the negative media campaign by pro-Palestinian elements — a trend that may encourage and motivate extremist elements to carry out terrorist activities against Israelis or Jews abroad,” the statement read.
“Therefore, the National Security Bureau is reinforcing its recommendation to the Israeli public to act with responsibility during this time when traveling abroad, to check the status of the National Security Bureau’s travel warnings (before purchasing tickets to the destination,) and to act in accordance with the travel warning recommendations and the level of risk in the country they are visiting,” it listed, adding that, as illustrated in the past year, these warnings are well-founded and reflect a tangible and valid threat potential.
The statement also emphasized the risk of sharing content on social media networks indicating current or past service in the Israeli security forces, as these posts increase the risk of being marked by various parties as a target. “Therefore, the National Security Council recommends that you do not upload to social networks, in any way, content that indicates service in the security forces, operational activity, or similar content, as well as real-time locations.”
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Israel Intensifies Gaza City Bombing as Rubio Arrives
Displaced Palestinians, fleeing northern Gaza due to an Israeli military operation, move southward after Israeli forces ordered residents of Gaza City to evacuate to the south, in the central Gaza Strip September 14, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Mahmoud Issa
Israeli forces destroyed at least 30 residential buildings in Gaza City and forced thousands of people from their homes, Palestinian officials said, as US Secretary of State Marco Rubio arrived on Sunday to discuss the future of the conflict.
Israel has said it plans to seize the city, where about a million Palestinians have been sheltering, as part of its declared aim of eliminating the terrorist group Hamas, and has intensified attacks on what it has called Hamas’ last bastion.
The group’s political leadership, which has engaged in on-and-off negotiations on a possible ceasefire and hostage release deal, was targeted by Israel in an airstrike in Doha on Tuesday in an attack that drew widespread condemnation.
Qatar will host an emergency Arab-Islamic summit on Monday to discuss the next moves. Rubio said Washington wanted to talk about how to free the 48 hostages – of whom 20 are believed to be still alive – still held by Hamas in Gaza and rebuild the coastal strip.
“What’s happened, has happened,” he said. “We’re gonna meet with them (the Israeli leadership). We’re gonna talk about what the future holds,” Rubio said before heading to Israel where he will stay until Tuesday.
ABRAHAM ACCORDS AT RISK
He was expected to visit the Western Wall Jewish prayer site in Jerusalem on Sunday with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and hold talks with him during the visit.
US officials described Tuesday’s strike on the territory of a close US ally as a unilateral escalation that did not serve American or Israeli interests. Rubio and US President Donald Trump both met Qatar’s Prime Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani on Friday.
Netanyahu signed an agreement on Thursday to push ahead with a settlement expansion plan that would cut across West Bank land that the Palestinians seek for a state – a move the United Arab Emirates warned would undermine the US-brokered Abraham accords that normalized UAE relations with Israel.
Israel, which blocked all food from entering Gaza for 11 weeks earlier this year, has been allowing more aid into the enclave since late July to prevent further food shortages, though the United Nations says far more is needed.
It says it wants civilians to leave Gaza City before it sends more ground forces in. Tens of thousands of people are estimated to have left but hundreds of thousands remain in the area. Hamas has called on people not to leave.
Israeli army forces have been operating inside at least four eastern suburbs for weeks, turning most of at least three of them into wastelands. It is closing in on the center and the western areas of the territory, where most of the displaced people are taking shelter.
Many are reluctant to leave, saying there is not enough space or safety in the south, where Israel has told them to go to what it has designated as a humanitarian zone.
Some say they cannot afford to leave while others say they were hoping the Arab leaders meeting on Monday in Qatar would pressure Israel to scrap its planned offensive.
“The bombardment intensified everywhere and we took down the tents, more than twenty families, we do not know where to go,” said Musbah Al-Kafarna, displaced in Gaza City.
Israel said it had completed five waves of air strikes on Gaza City over the past week, targeting more than 500 sites, including Hamas reconnaissance and sniper sites, buildings containing tunnel openings and weapons depots.
Local officials, who do not distinguish between militant and civilian casualties, say at least 40 people were killed by Israeli fire across the enclave, a least 28 in Gaza City alone.
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Turkey Warns of Escalation as Israel Expands Strikes Beyond Gaza
Turkey’s President Tayyip Erdogan speaks during a press conference with Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis (not seen) at the Presidential Palace in Ankara, Turkey, May 13, 2024. Photo: REUTERS/Umit Bektas
i24 News – An Israeli strike targeting Hamas officials in Qatar has sparked unease among several Middle Eastern countries that host leaders of the group, with Turkey among the most alarmed.
Officials in Ankara are increasingly worried about how far Israel might go in pursuing those it holds responsible for the October 7 attacks.
Israel’s prime minister effectively acknowledged that the Qatar operation failed to eliminate the Hamas leadership, while stressing the broader point the strike was meant to make: “They enjoy no immunity,” the government said.
On X, Prime Minister Netanyahu went further, writing that “the elimination of Hamas leaders would put an end to the war.”
A senior Turkish official, speaking on condition of anonymity, summed up Ankara’s reaction: “The attack in Qatar showed that the Israeli government is ready to do anything.”
Legally and diplomatically, Turkey occupies a delicate position. As a NATO member, any military operation or targeted killing on its soil could inflame tensions within the alliance and challenge mutual security commitments.
Analysts caution, however, that Israel could opt for covert measures, operations carried out without public acknowledgement, a prospect that has increased anxiety in governments across the region.
Israeli officials remain defiant. In an interview with Ynet, Minister Ze’ev Elkin said: “As long as we have not stopped them, we will pursue them everywhere in the world and settle our accounts with them.” The episode underscores growing fears that efforts to hunt Hamas figures beyond Gaza could widen regional friction and complicate diplomatic relationships.