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There has been no significant change in the lines of combat and confrontation in the Gaza Strip between the Israeli occupation army and the Palestinian resistance factions, amid increasing talk about the border city of Rafah with Egypt, and Tel Aviv’s threat to invade it, despite its overcrowding with displaced people.
Commenting on the belts of fire that Deir al-Balah witnessed in the middle of the Gaza Strip, military and strategic expert Major General Fayez al-Duwairi said that this city and Rafah have not witnessed ground battles since the Israeli ground war that began late last October.
Al-Duwairi explains during his analysis for Al-Jazeera that Deir al-Balah was the only exception in the Central Governorate in terms of ground battles, although the tanks had approached Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in the city before retreating and retreating.
He points out that this is the first time that Deir al-Balah - a destination for displaced people from the northern and central areas of the Gaza Strip - has been bombed with such intensity with artillery fire belts, expecting that it is a prelude to an upcoming ground battle and the expected entry of the occupation army into areas there.
Regarding the statements of Israeli War Council Minister Benny Gantz regarding Rafah, Al-Duwairi says that he entered the political bidding market, bypassing Defense Minister Yoav Galant, and now competing with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in the context of preserving his political future.
Gantz had said - during the annual conference of heads of Jewish organizations in America, in the occupied city of Jerusalem - that the fighting in the Gaza Strip will continue during the month of Ramadan, and will expand to Rafah “if the detainees are not returned.”
Al-Duwairi stressed that the statements of leaders and politicians at the Munich Security Conference showed a categorical rejection of an Israeli ground operation in Rafah and the necessity of putting a final end to the war, but the American position still gives the green light for its continuation.
He pointed out the need for the Egyptian position to be firm on the issue of the displacement of Palestinians, especially since the agreements do not allow Israel to enter the Philadelphia Axis area - an average width of 450 meters - except with approval and coordination with Cairo.
Source: Al Jazeera