The restrictions and bottlenecks of the Zionist regime to attack Rafah

According to the report of the international group Tasnim news agency, the attack The Zionist regime has entered the Gaza Strip for the eighth month in a row, since about 3 months ago, rumors about the Zionist regime’s attack on the border city of Rafah started and continue. Since the fifth month of the war and with the movement of the people of Gaza towards Rafah in the south of the Gaza Strip, the fate of this city became extremely important for all parties.

Inside the occupied territories, there are many bottlenecks and contradictions about Rafah, first of all, Tel Aviv desperately needs to enter Rafah to complete its military operations in Gaza. In fact, the ruling body of the Zionist regime cannot claim to have implemented all stages of the military operation against the Palestinian resistance groups in the Gaza Strip without taking control of this strategic city, let alone claiming success in implementing this operation and achieving the desired results!

In the past 7 months, the Zionist army has entered all areas of the Gaza Strip at least once, except for its southern border (of course, entering different areas means occupation is not successful and complete). The severity of brutality and killing of Palestinians by the Zionist army in the Gaza Strip has caused the world’s public opinion to focus on the developments in Gaza and especially the city of Rafah and to try to prevent the attack on this city.

On the other hand, since the Zionist regime’s army achieved a serious, public and tangible achievement in connection with its predetermined military goals in the Gaza Strip, that is, “destroying Hamas”, “expelling Hamas from The role of governance in Gaza” and “freeing Israeli prisoners through military operations[1]” has not been achieved, This idea has arisen within the Zionist regime that in Rafah and its surroundings, they can find traces of Israelis in resistance or Hamas leaders.

In addition This issue of Rafah has also become a matter of honor for the ruling coalition cabinet led by Benjamin Netanyahu, and apart from its importance as a military goal, it has gained political and symbolic importance. The strong pressure of the world public opinion and even the united governments of the Zionist regime to prevent this action (especially before the direct confrontation between Tel Aviv and Tehran in April 2024), has turned the Rafah operation into a symbol of willpower for the Zionists, and stopping the implementation of this The operation will convey a strong sense of helplessness and failure to the ruling body, the army, and a large part of the Israeli society.

Also, the future perspective of the war and the issue of Rafah inside The governing body of the Zionist regime has also become a mystery, because some political parties and activists in the occupied territories are calling for an agreement by highlighting the issue of saving the lives of Israelis trapped by Hamas and endangering their lives if the Rafah operation begins. To save them, they are ahead of any planning to implement this operation. For example, opposition leader Yair Lapid wants the prisoner exchange agreement and the resulting ceasefire to take precedence over the Rafah operation, and Benny Gantz, a member of the war cabinet, recently threatened in a statement: “If a plan that secures Israel’s interests with the support of all institutions If security is put on the negotiation table and the ministers who were responsible for the failure of October 7 prevent its implementation, the cabinet will not have the right to survive.”

In front of Gantz and the supporters of the prisoner exchange agreement, the extreme right wing led by Itamar Ben Guer and Betsalel Smutrich, put forward the avoidance of the attack on Rafah as a red line and threaten to leave the cabinet if this operation is abandoned. . In this regard, Smotrich warned in a video that an agreement that prevents the attack on Rafah is a “humiliating surrender” and a “stab in the back to Israeli soldiers”. Ben Guer also threatened in a tweet that “any irresponsible agreement will mean the dissolution of the cabinet”. It is possible to review the fundamental position of Hamas regarding the ceasefire and exchange negotiations. The Palestinian resistance groups have conditioned the negotiations over the lives of the prisoners and their release to the announcement of the official end of the war and the withdrawal of the Israeli army from Gaza, so the idea of ​​”priority of the exchange of prisoners over the attack on Rafah” (the position of the supporters of the rapid implementation of the agreement) is weakened.

On the other hand, if the Zionist prisoners are present in the Palestinian resistance in Rafah, the invasion of the Zionist army in this area will put the lives of the Israeli prisoners in danger as well as the Palestinians. is placed directly and the riddle of Rafah becomes more difficult than before. strengthens, both against Hamas and resistance groups, against Arab governments, and against European and American governments. This is in a situation where the disagreement between the European governments and the Biden government with the occupying regime in this regard is due to the continued presence of the occupying forces in this region. In fact, Israel’s western allies do not agree with the continued presence of the Zionist army in this area even if the alleged war goals are fulfilled by Netanyahu’s cabinet.