The Israeli army will make sure civilians in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip are brought to safety if the military carries out an operation there, an army spokesman said on Friday.
Spokesman Arye Shalicar said that leaders of Hamas were suspected to be in the city on the border with Egypt, along with many remaining fighters from the Islamist terrorist group.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had said on Thursday that Israel would advance on Rafah despite international pressure.
Israel's war against Hamas, which began following Hamas-led massacres in Israel on October 7, started with airstrikes on Gaza and then a ground offensive in the north of the coastal territory. The Israeli army then moved southwards in an attempt to eliminate Hamas completely.
From Israel's point of view, victory over Hamas is not possible without an operation in Rafah, which lies on the border with Egypt.
Leading international politicians are strictly opposed to such a military offensive by Israel. According to estimates, 1.5 million Palestinians are currently seeking shelter in Rafah after fleeing the fighting in the other areas of the Gaza Strip. Aid organizations warn that the civilian loss of life would be unacceptably high.
Shalicar said that in the event of an operation in Rafah, the civilians would be evacuated to safer places such as the al-Mawasi camp. "That is what we have been doing in recent months and that is exactly how we would operate when it comes to Rafah," he said.
The terrorist attack by Hamas on October 7 left more than 1,200 people in the Israeli border area dead, and some 250 kidnapped.
According to the Hamas health authority, more than 31,300 people have been killed in Israeli attacks and fighting in the Gaza Strip since then.
The figures from the war zone could not be independently verified.
