The “Israeli” war cabinet has unanimously decided to go ahead with the ground invasion of Rafah “in order to apply military pressure on Hamas, with the goal of making progress on freeing the hostages and the other war aims” – Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said in a statement.

The statement added that Hamas’s latest offer is “far from Israel’s obligatory demands.”

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Concurrently, the Israeli Occupation is sending a delegation to talk with mediators in an attempt to formulate a deal that meets “Israel’s” demands – according to the statement.

“Israel” carried out intense air strikes on Rafah this evening that continued for 30 minutes after reiterating a call for people to evacuate the east of the city in southern Gaza, according to an AFP correspondent.

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