Egypt Puts Tanks on Border.

Egypt has been busy while Israel has been levelling Gaza. Egypt has been building a reinforced wall on the border with Gaza. As Israel is now prepping to attack Rafah (the supposed last bastion of Hamas) Egypt has also put tanks and armoured personnel carriers on the border with Gaza. Rafah is the last major city in Gaza before you enter Egypt. The Egyptians do not want streams of Palestinians entering their territory. Hence their building a wall and putting their military equipment on the border. Egypt does not want Hamas operatives seeking refuge in its country. It also wants Gazans to stay in Gaza. It does not want Palestinians to be pushed out of their land. If they are then they would be Egypt's responsibility.

Netanyahu has asked his military to prepare to evacuate Rafah's civilians. Also at the same time, to attack Rafah and mop up the last remaining Hamas battalions (Netanyahu's words). Whether it is viable to safely evacuate the 1 million refugees from Rafah is open to question. Whatever, the IDF advancing into Rafah will kill thousands of people. Rafah is already being levelled by the IDF much like other places in Gaza. Netanyahu has resisted calls for a ceasefire and has vowed to plough on with the war. Vowing in line with his previous statements, only total victory will do. Can Israel truly defeat Hamas though? Israel admits it has destroyed much of Hamas's infrastructure like tunnels. At the same time, it admits it does know the full extent of the Hamas tunnel system. Hamas for all of Israel's efforts has reemerged in Northern Gaza. Hamas is still a formidable foe and is still giving Israel headaches on the battlefield.

President Biden and other leaders have called on Israel not to launch a full frontal attack on Rafah. In private, President Biden has voiced His frustrations with the Jewish state and how it has prosecuted the war. Foreign Minister Anthony Blinken flew to see Netanyahu to ask him to end the war or have a ceasefire. However, Netanyahu has not complied and is still throwing his weight around in the Middle East.

No one is saying Israel should not have defended itself after the Oct 7 Hamas attack. The criticism of Israel comes from the way it has carried out the war. Levelling whole cities and towns. Killing in the process 28,000 Gazan civilians with God knows how many more rotting under the rubble. Israel could have had pinpoint strikes or assassinations on Hamas leaders. But for some reason, it has decided to destroy the lives of civilians in Gaza. Israel must be in breach of the UN Court that told Israel to stop killing civilians. South Africa took Israel to court for alleged genocide. Israel has to report back to this court so it will be interesting to see what happens.

The West must bear some blame for letting Israel have a free hand in Gaza. The silence of the West as Israel has decimated Gaza is deafening. Only now is President Biden saying Israel has gone too far. Is it genuine or is it because Biden is afraid of losing the election? A lot of young Americans disapprove of the US financing Israel's war machine. Some have even said they would vote for Trump, that's how angry and upset they are with Biden!

Netanyahu knows once this war is over he could face charges over corruption. If there was a general election most Israelis would vote him out of office. So, that's another reason Netanyahu wants to keep the war going. It could also be that Netanyahu is caught between a rock and a hard place. Gaps have appeared in his government between moderates and the far right. If the far-right were to pull out of Netanyah's government, it would bring his administration down. Thus triggering a general which would see him out of office. Which would no doubt, be the end of his political career.

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