Jerusalem, Feb. 9 -- Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu instructed on Friday the army to prepare a plan for a ground operation in Rafah, the southernmost Gazan city to where over half of the 2.3 million Gaza residents fled due to the ongoing Israel-Hamas conflict.
Netanyahu's office said in a statement that the prime minister has ordered the army and the security establishment to submit to the cabinet "a combined plan for evacuating the (Gaza) population and destroying the (Hamas) battalions" in Rafah, which was previously considered a safe zone from Israel's relentless bombardments.
He said a powerful ground operation is needed to "eliminate" Hamas militants who are still holed up in southern Gaza, but the population should be a...