Will Netanyahu still attack Rafah?

The decision by Israel to withdraw its forces from the devastated city of Khan Younis could portend a battle for the control of Gaza. For Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the Israeli Defence Forces, the prize in the war against Hamas is the capture of the southern city of Rafah, a sprawling, tented enclave bulging with up to 1.4 million displaced and desperate Palestinians. Given that much of Gaza is now in ruins, there is almost nowhere left for the Palestinians trapped inside the city to flee. It is almost universally accepted that any assault would end in a bloodbath. 

It’s for this reason that Washington has repeatedly warned Israel that if the attack goes ahead, the US could begin to place restrictions on how weapons supplied to the IDF are used ­– a move which could severely restrict future operations. The decision by the IDF to withdraw from the devastated city of Khan Younis – once home to 400,000 Palestinians – initially offered a fleeting hope that a ceasefire might be forthcoming.