Israeli forces are advancing towards the southern Gazan city of Rafah, aiming to dismantle what Israeli officials have described as the last significant stronghold of Hamas. Simultaneously, intense battles are erupting against the militant group in previously cleared areas in the north. U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken expressed to CBS’s “Face the Nation” that any Israeli takeover of Rafah would be “unsustainable” without a credible plan for postwar Gaza. He remarked, “A significant number of armed Hamas members will remain, regardless of Israeli actions in Rafah.”
Nearly 360,000 Palestinians have fled Rafah since Israel instructed its civilians to evacuate a week ago, according to the U.N. agency for Palestinian refugees. Israel asserts that the evacuations are intended to protect civilians from being caught up in imminent battles, while aid groups argue that there are no safe havens for them.
The United States has been outspoken in its opposition to the Israeli ground operation in Rafah, where more than 1 million Palestinians sought refuge from earlier conflicts. Blinken spoke with Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, reiterating U.S. opposition to the Rafah operation and urging Israel to safeguard civilians, according to State Department spokesman Matthew Miller.
The Israel Defense Forces reported that fighter jets struck around 30 targets over the weekend in the Jabalya area in northern Gaza, where Hamas has regrouped following Israeli claims of victory after last year's weeks-long intense combat with militants. Blinken also noted Khan Younis, a major city to the north, as another area where Hamas is resurging.
The death toll in Gaza has surpassed 35,000, with 78,755 injured since the conflict began, as per the Gaza Health Ministry. The ministry does not differentiate between civilians and combatants but states that the majority of the deceased are women and children.
Israel estimates that about 1,200 people were killed in Hamas’s Oct. 7 attack, including over 300 soldiers. It also states that 272 soldiers have been killed since the launch of its military operation in Gaza. Israel commemorates its first Memorial Day since Hamas’s Oct. 7 assault, with the hostage situation and the Gaza conflict casting a shadow over ceremonies nationwide.
There is little indication on the ground of a viable Palestinian state. The territories of the West Bank and East Jerusalem, the latter envisioned as the future Palestinian capital, remain under de facto Israeli military control, divided by Israeli security needs and the demands of Jewish settlers. Gaza is a desolate, rubble-strewn war zone, the resting place of more than 34,900 Palestinians killed in Israel’s ongoing offensive against Hamas.
The governance of Gaza post-conflict and the reconstruction of the devastated region are uncertain. The Palestinian national movement is fractured and weak, and the Palestinian Authority will likely struggle to maintain unity. Despite being weakened, Hamas continues to fight Israel in areas of Gaza where it was believed to have been defeated.
In Israel, there is little interest among mainstream factions, from the right-wing led by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to his more moderate opponents, in discussing Palestinian self-determination or statehood. This was generally the case before Oct. 7, when Hamas orchestrated the deadliest day in Jewish history since the Holocaust, and is even more pronounced now.
However, outside the Holy Land, the call for a Palestinian state grows louder. The United States and Israel's Arab neighbors see the revival of the “two-state solution” as crucial for postwar peace. A growing number of nations are moving to endorse this scenario in principle, despite its absence in practice.
Spain is one of those countries. Israeli forces continue to advance on Rafah and launch operations against Hamas in the north, triggering a frantic scramble among war-weary civilians across Gaza. Humanitarian agencies warn that no place is safe, and essential aid is running out, nearly a week after Israel seized and closed the border crossing with Egypt.
The expanding evacuations in Rafah, where Israel had instructed over 1 million Palestinians to seek shelter at the start of the war, indicate a possible incursion into the heart of the city. Such a move could lead Washington, Israel's staunchest ally, to suspend offensive weapons shipments after months of faltering cease-fire talks.
“We cannot and will not support an operation in Rafah, a major military operation, without a credible plan to protect civilians, and they [Israel] still haven’t delivered,” Secretary of State Antony Blinken told CBS’s “Face the Nation.”