Israeli analysts say the invasion of Rafah is unlikely to succeed

A Palestinian Hostage Rescue in the Gaza Strip: The Case of Fernando Marman, Louis Har, and the Defense of Israel During the October 7 Operation

There are few examples of a successful hostage rescue in the Gaza Strip since the beginning of the war, but Israeli security forces said they rescued two hostages who were held in the southern Gaza city of Rafah.

The hostages, Fernando Simon Marman, 60, and Louis Har, 70, were undergoing tests at a hospital in Tel Aviv and were both in good condition, according to a joint statement from the Israeli military, the police and the domestic security agency, Shin Bet.

Israel has been discussing plans to send troops into Rafah, even as aid groups, the United Nations and the United States have warned that the people sheltering there have nowhere to go. Egypt has so far refused to take in Palestinian refugees.

Mr. Marman and Mr. Har were among more than 240 people captured during the surprise Oct. 7 raid on southern Israel by Hamas and other militant groups, which later prompted Israel to retaliate with massive airstrikes and a ground invasion in Gaza. The statement said the two men had been captured from Nir Yitzhak, near the Gaza border. No other details were immediately available.

During the cease- fire in October of last year, around 100 of the hostages were released. Last week, The New York Times reported that Israeli intelligence officers had concluded that at least 30 of the remaining 136 hostages had died since the start of the war. Before Monday’s operation, Israeli forces had said they rescued at least one hostage.

Hostages’ families have been pressing Israel to prioritize negotiations for their release. Last week, he publicly rejected Hamas’s latest proposal of another pause in fighting that would allow for some of the hostages being held by the militants to be released.

According to Israeli officials and analysts, the planning will likely take some time. The challenge for Israeli forces will be how to move people who have crowded in out of harms way. Many Gazans fled to Rafah on the instructions of the Israeli military to avoid the fighting farther north in Gaza, and a chorus of international leaders have expressed concerns that the people there have nowhere to go.

The Biden-Netanjah Attack on Hamas and the Fate of Gaza: State of the Art and the Status of the Operation

According to an Israeli media report, the Biden administration has voiced concern over an assault that is taking place during a Muslim holy month. An attack during Ramadan — which is expected to start March 10, though the timing depends on the sighting of the moon over Mecca — could be viewed as particularly provocativeto Muslims in the region and beyond.

Mr. Dichter, a minister from the Likud party, told Kan on Sunday that the operation in Rafah would happen. It will end the same way in other places, he said.

Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.

President Biden spoke to Netanyahu about how important it was for the safety of and support for the more than to have a credible plan in place for a military operation in Rafah.

In a call with reporters, a senior administration official said there are 1.3 million people in Rafah now who have dire humanitarian needs and nowhere to go. They fled fighting in other parts of Gaza so they got refuge there.

The official said that Israeli officials had told them U.S. counterparts that “they wouldn’t contemplate an operation Without being able to get people out of there.

The senior administration official said the majority of the 45-minute call between Biden and Netanyahu was spent discussing the need to keep pushing toward a potential hostage deal that would see Hamas release the remaining hostages in exchange for a sustained pause in fighting.

The official said that there is a framework proposal but is now in place. there’s certainly gaps that need to be closed. Some of them are significant. The official said that there had been progress over the last few weeks.

Netanyahu’s remarks on a “delusional” cease-fire plan condemned by the Hamas-Saltman-Bushkin-Kuzmin government

The remarks come days after Netanyahu rejected a cease-fire plan delivered by Hamas to end the war in Gaza, calling it “delusional” because it would have left Hamas in power of the Gaza Strip at the end of the phased truce.