Israeli military says it has not yet presented Rafah evacuation plan to government

The Israeli military has not yet presented its plan to the government for the evacuation of Rafah, a spokesperson for the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) told CNN on Tuesday.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Friday directed the IDF to plan for the “evacuation of the population” from Rafah, ahead of an anticipated ground assault on the southern Gaza city.

“The government has instructed the IDF to devise a plan to achieve our goals, our war goals, in the area of Rafah,” IDF spokesperson Lieutenant Colonel Peter Lerner told CNN’s John Vause on Tuesday. “The plan that you’re asking for has still yet to be presented, of course, to the government.”

Lerner said the military aims to create a plan that evacuates civilians “out of harm’s way” and differentiates civilians from Hamas militants.

More than half of Gaza’s population is believed to be in Rafah, with the majority of people displaced from other parts of the besieged enclave crammed into a makeshift tent city.

“It can be done. We have confidence in our ability to differentiate and distinguish,” he told Vause, admitting, however, that it comes “not without challenge.”

More than half of Gaza’s population is believed to be in Rafah, with the majority of people displaced from other parts of the besieged enclave crammed into a makeshift tent city.

Israel faces growing international pressure over the potential impacts on civilians from a ground invasion of Rafah.

On Tuesday, Lerner addressed the concerns, likening “the alternative… to surrender to Hamas and to sacrifice 134 people.”

That is not an option from Israel’s perspective,” he said.

“We need to bring home the hostages, we need to bring them home now. We can do it, we’ve done it in the past. We’ve proven time and time again that we can evacuate a mass amount of people out of harm’s way,” he said.