IDF calls to evacuate all of Rafah after Israeli cabinet decides to increase pressure on Hamas

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) on Monday morning issued an evacuation call for the entire city of Rafah – about one-fifth of the total area of the Gaza Strip – after the Israeli cabinet decided to continue increasing the pressure on Hamas.

Speaking before a government meeting on Sunday, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the ministers voted overnight to “increase the pressure…  to further pound Hamas and create the optimal conditions for releasing our hostages.”

On Monday morning, IDF Arabic Spokesman Col. Avichay Adraee called on residents of Rafah to move to the humanitarian area in al-Mawasi, situated on the coast.

“The IDF is returning to fight with great force to eliminate the capabilities of terrorist organizations in these areas,” Adraee said.

The decision to increase military pressure on Hamas came after weekend reports indicated that, while hostage deal negotiations were progressing, a final agreement remained out of reach.

The reports suggested that Hamas agreed to an Egyptian framework for a deal to release five living hostages in exchange for a 50-day ceasefire.

However, Israel continues to insist on the release of at least 10 hostages before it will halt its military operations in the enclave.

In his remarks on Sunday, Netanyahu asserted that the military pressure is having an impact on Hamas.

“It is working because it is simultaneous: On the one hand, it is pounding Hamas's military and governing capabilities, and on the other, it is creating the conditions for releasing our hostages,” he said.

According to a Channel 12 report, several cabinet ministers, as well as the security establishment, are in agreement with Netanyahu on this point.

“Hamas is flinching, the military pressure is bringing about a change in its position,” Channel 12 quoted Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer as saying.

Security officials reportedly agreed, stating, “There are significant shifts in Hamas’s position.”

In a speech later published by the Prime Minister’s Office, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu commented on what he called “three false claims that are constantly being directed at us in one continuous lie” – a remark widely interpreted as a reference to the political opposition and the protest movement, which has recently intensified its activities.

The first inaccurate claim, the prime minister said, is the claim that no negotiations are being held.

“This is incorrect. We are holding them under fire; therefore, they are also effective. Suddenly, we see that there are cracks,” he said.

Secondly, Netanyahu’s critics say the government is unwilling to discuss a “final stage” of the deal – referring to the phase that would bring the war to an end.

“We are willing. Hamas will lay down its weapons. Its leaders will be allowed to leave. We will see to the general security in the Gaza Strip and will allow the realization of the Trump plan for voluntary migration. This is the plan. We are not hiding this and are ready to discuss it at any time,” the prime minister asserted.

“The third lie is that we do not care about the hostages,” he said.

“This is incorrect for the ministers here who regularly meet with the families of the hostages, and for my wife and I. Last week, we met and talked with four families. We speak in depth and feel their pain, which is immense,” Netanyahu said.

“This claim – that we do not care – echoes Hamas propaganda. This is what Hamas puts into its videos with the goal of creating internal dissension and a false picture. We are committed to returning the hostages and we are working to return them.”

Netanyahu closed by reiterating, “As of today, the combination of military and diplomatic pressure is the only thing that has returned the hostages, and not any of the empty claims and slogans that I hear in the studios from the self-professed experts.”