Netanyahu says Israel will let civilians trapped in enclave leave Rafah before launching offensive. "We will act in Rafah, it will take a few weeks, but it will happen," he added.
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz warned that an attack on Rafah would make regional peace "very difficult" The war in the Gaza Strip was triggered by a Hamas attack in southern Israel on October 7, which killed at least 1,160 people, most of them civilians, according to an AFP tally.