Report: Netanyahu halts Rafah operation - for a second time

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu decided to stop an IDF ground operation in the Gazan city of Rafah following growing international pressure against Israeli action in the southern Gaza Strip, alongside attempts by the mediators to obtain a new deal for the release of hostages, as reported on Kan Reshet Bet.

According to the report, two dates have already been set for the start of an attack, but Netanyahu has decided to postpone it both times. If attempts to reach a deal with Hamas fail, however, an operation will be launched. Netanyahu's office, for its part, denied reports of the postponement, claiming it was "false."

In recent days it has been reported that Israel has agreed to withdraw its forces from the Netzer Corridor as proof of its flexibility in talks with Hamas. Israel emphasized after the last conversation between US President Biden and Prime Minister Netanyahu that the American leader continues opposing the operation in Rafah.

It was earlier reported that political commentator Amit Segal claimed that Biden is the one preventing an Israeli entry into Rafah out of fears that he will lose the Muslim vote in the state of Michigan during the November elections.