Hamas warns Israeli invasion of Rafah will ‘torpedo’ truce talks

Palestinian group issues warning as Biden says Israel shouldn’t invade without ‘credible’ plan to protect civilians.

Hamas has warned Israel that a ground offensive in Rafah would imperil negotiations on a truce and the exchange of captives and prisoners, as United States President Joe Biden said an assault should not go ahead without a “credible” plan to protect civilians in the city.

Aid groups and foreign governments, including Israel’s key ally the US, have voiced deep concern over Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s pledge to extend ground military operations into the far-southern Gaza city.

Rafah, on the border with Egypt, is the last refuge for Palestinians fleeing Israel’s relentless bombardment elsewhere in the Gaza Strip in its four-month war against Hamas, triggered by the Palestinian group’s October 7 attack.

“Any attack by the occupation army on the city of Rafah would torpedo the exchange negotiations,” a Hamas leader told the AFP news agency on condition of anonymity.

Netanyahu has told troops to prepare to enter the city that now hosts more than half of Gaza’s total population, spurring concern about the impact on displaced civilians.