The Israeli army announced on 24 April that the 679th “Yiftah” Armored Brigade and the 2nd “Carmeli” Infantry Brigade will enter the Gaza Strip in the coming days to take control of the Netzarim military belt and the US-built pier off Gaza's coast.
An Israeli infantry brigade typically consists of 2,000 to 5,000 soldiers.
Israeli media says the deployment of the two brigades will “free up” troops from the 933rd "Nahal" Brigade currently holding the Netzarim corridor, which was built earlier this year over the rubble of homes, schools, and hospitals to split Gaza in two.
The announcement comes as Israeli authorities say all necessary preparations have been completed for the impending assault of Gaza's southernmost city of Rafah, where over one million Palestinians are taking shelter.
A senior defense official told Reuters on Wednesday that the army can launch an operation the moment it gets government approval.
“Hamas was hit hard in the northern sector. It was also hit hard in the center of the Strip. And soon it will be hit hard in Rafah, too,” Israeli Brig. Gen. Itzik Cohen said on Tuesday.
“Rafah will not be the Rafah of today … There won’t be munitions there. And there won’t be hostages there,” he added.
Earlier this week, the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) cited Egyptian officials as saying that Israel has a plan to evacuate civilians from Rafah over two to three weeks in cooperation with the US, Cairo, and other Arab states, including the UAE.
The officials added that Tel Aviv plans on “gradual deployments of troops” to Rafah, concentrated on specific areas where Hamas leaders are allegedly holed up.
The entire operation is expected to take at least six weeks. Moreover, government sources told Israeli media on Wednesday that the war cabinet plans to meet in the coming two weeks to authorize the civilian evacuations.
The report states that the evacuation plan involves moving Rafah’s civilian population toward the southern city of Khan Yunis and other areas of the strip. In preparation, a sprawling tent city is being built near Khan Yunis.
Egypt has also finished building a security buffer zone in the Sinai Desert and recently mobilized more troops to its border with Gaza, as the country recently received a windfall from western and Gulf states to secure any needs stemming from a refugee crisis.
Rafah is currently home to over one million displaced Palestinians who were forced to flee Israel's carpet bombing of northern Gaza. Israeli air strikes have killed scores of Palestinian civilians in Rafah in recent weeks.
The UN and several countries have warned that attacking Rafah would have catastrophic consequences and stressed there is no safe way to evacuate the desperately overcrowded city.
Israeli authorities claim that victory against Hamas is “impossible” without the invasion of Rafah, where they claim only a handful of Hamas battalions remain hidden.
“The occupation forces are trying to convince the world that they have eliminated all resistance factions, and this is a big lie … The enemy was unable, in 200 days, to achieve anything other than mass massacres, destruction, and killing. The enemy is still stuck in the sands of Gaza, and what he will reap will only be more anger, revenge, and disgrace,” the spokesman for Hamas’ Qassam Brigades, Abu Obeida, said in a speech on 23 April.
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