Jerusalem:
The Israeli army will continue its operation in the city of Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip “as planned” after ceasefire talks between Israel and Hamas broke down in Cairo, Egypt, an Israeli official told media.
Meanwhile, a Xinhua news agency reporting the developments reported massive Israeli troops stationed at the Rafah border.
The unnamed Israeli official confirmed on Thursday that the Israeli delegation left Cairo after talks with Hamas, US, Egyptian and Qatari negotiators on an agreement to end hostilities and secure the release of hostages in Gaza, the news agency reported Xinhua.
The official did not elaborate on whether Israel will expand the offensive to more areas in Rafah on the southern side of Gaza, where some 1.2 million internally displaced Palestinians have sought refuge.
According to Israeli state news Kan TV, the talks were halted due to Israel's ongoing ground attack on Rafah.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's war cabinet was due to meet later on Thursday to discuss the continuation of the Rafah operation.
Commenting on US President Joe Biden's decision to pause some arms deliveries to Israel as the country deepens its attack on the city of Rafah, the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) said it has sufficient weapons to continue operations in Gaza to continue.
“The IDF has armaments for the operations it plans, including the Rafah operation,” IDF spokesman Daniel Hagari said in a statement.
“We have what we need,” he emphasized.
“The US has so far provided security assistance to Israel and the IDF in an unprecedented manner,” Hagari added, noting that “even if there are differences between us, we resolve them in closed rooms.”
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by Our staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)