RTL Today – Important speech: Israel orders another withdrawal from Gaza, Netanyahu heads to Washington

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu left for Washington on Monday to deliver a major speech as the military ordered a new round of evacuations from the southern Gaza city of Khan Younis before sending in troops.

Netanyahu on Monday called the visit a “very important trip” that came at a time of “great political uncertainty,” referring to U.S. President Joe Biden’s decision not to seek re-election and Washington’s push for Israel to reach a ceasefire with Hamas.

The prime minister, who will meet Biden on Tuesday and address the US Congress the following day, leaves Israel amid intense domestic pressure to agree a ceasefire in Gaza and release hostages.

The nine-month-long war in the Palestinian territories continued on Monday as Israel demanded the evacuation of civilians east of Khan Yunis.

Witnesses said the city had come under heavy shelling on Monday, while a medical worker at the city’s Nasser hospital told AFP that the explosion in Khan Yunis had killed 26 people since dawn today. The health ministry put the death toll at 14.

The Israeli military said in a statement that “due to the severe terrorist activity and rocket attacks facing the State of Israel… it has become dangerous to remain in the area.”

Israel said its forces were “imminent to carry out a forcible operation in the area” and demanded that Gazans move to the Al-Mawasi humanitarian zone.

– ‘Tensions’ –

Al-Mawasi has been the scene of several deadly incidents in recent months, and displaced Palestinians told AFP the area was overcrowded.

Yusuf Abu Taima, from the town of Karala in Khan Yunis, said his family went to the humanitarian aid zone but found no space.

“Even the sidewalks are filled with people and tents. We are tired and we have had enough. Enough of this displacement and migration.”

“We had only been settled for a few days when the army came, bombing us, evicting us and causing more destruction,” Ahmed al-Bayouk, a 53-year-old man from Khan Younis, told AFP.

“Where should we go? Everywhere is in danger of being bombed.”

The war has placed unprecedented pressure on Israel’s most important and closest alliance, and Netanyahu, defying U.S. pressure, launched a major ground operation in Rafah, Gaza, earlier this year.

“The atmosphere has never been more tense,” said Steven Cook, a Middle East expert at the Council on Foreign Relations.

“There are clearly tensions, particularly between the White House and the Israeli prime minister,” Cook said in his comments.

The visit comes as the Gaza war has renewed regional violence, and Israel on Saturday launched its first strike in Yemen in retaliation for a deadly drone attack by Houthi rebels on Tel Aviv.

As the situation along the border remains tense, further exchanges of fire took place over the weekend between Lebanese Hezbollah and Israeli forces.

– Pressure for a ceasefire –

The war was sparked by a Hamas attack on Israel on Oct. 7 that killed 1,195 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on Israeli figures.

The militants also took 251 hostages, 116 of whom remain in Gaza, and the Israeli military said 42 had died.

According to the Ministry of Health in Hamas-controlled areas, Israel’s retaliatory actions have killed at least 38,983 people in Gaza, most of them civilians.

Washington has been pushing for a ceasefire in Gaza, but Netanyahu, facing pressure at home to bring home hostages taken in an Oct. 7 Hamas attack, has insisted increasing military pressure on the militants is the best way to reach a deal.

“This double pressure will not delay the conclusion of an agreement, but will push it forward,” Netanyahu told Gaza forces on Thursday.

On Sunday, the prime minister’s office said he would send a negotiating team for a new round of talks on a ceasefire, but it was unclear where the team would go.

Egypt, Qatar and the United States have been trying for months to broker a deal between Israel and Hamas, but without success.