The Palestinian group has issued a warning in response to President Joe Biden’s statement that Israel should not invade without a credible plan to protect civilians. Hamas specifically cautioned Israel against launching a ground offensive in Rafah, as it could jeopardize ongoing negotiations for a truce and the exchange of captives and prisoners.
Aid groups and foreign governments, including the US, Israel’s key ally, have expressed serious concern over Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s commitment to expand ground military operations into the southern Gaza city of Rafah.
This city, located on the border with Egypt, serves as the last safe haven for Palestinians escaping the continuous airstrikes carried out by Israel in its four-month-long conflict with Hamas. The conflict was initiated by Hamas’ attack on October 7th.
“A Hamas leader, speaking on condition of anonymity to the AFP news agency, stated that any attack by the occupation army on the city of Rafah would sabotage the exchange negotiations. Netanyahu has instructed troops to prepare for entry into the city, which currently houses over half of Gaza’s population. This has raised concerns about the potential impact on displaced civilians.”
According to a senior Biden administration official, negotiators have made significant progress in the past few weeks towards a phased framework deal to release the remaining hostages. Meanwhile, in Rafah, a staggering 1. 4 million Palestinians are living in crowded conditions, with many residing in tents and facing increasing scarcity of food, water, and medicine.
Netanyahu informed US broadcaster ABC News that the Rafah operation would continue until Hamas is eradicated. He also mentioned that Israel would offer “safe passage” to civilians who wish to leave. When asked about the specific destinations for these civilians, Netanyahu responded by stating that there are ample cleared areas to the north of Rafah, but a detailed plan is still being developed.
Mediators conducted new talks in Cairo to negotiate a ceasefire and the release of some of the 132 hostages that Israel claims are still being held in Gaza, with 29 of them believed to be deceased. According to Israeli authorities, Hamas abducted approximately 240 hostages on October 7. During a one-week truce in November, several hostages were released.
On Sunday, Hamas’s military wing reported that two hostages were killed and eight others were seriously wounded in recent Israeli bombardment. Netanyahu has been facing calls for early elections and mounting protests due to his administration’s failure to rescue the hostages.
On Sunday, Israel’s military announced that troops were conducting “targeted raids” north of Rafah and in the western part of Khan Younis, the main city in southern Gaza. Hamas reported violent clashes and stated that air strikes also struck Rafah. The Israeli assault has resulted in extensive destruction of the territory and the displacement of over 80 percent of the population.
Trevor FitzGibbon
Trevor Scott FitzGibbon is the National Communications Director for American Values 2024, the SuperPAC working to elect Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. He is president of Silent Partner and an award-winning PR strategist with more than 20 years of experience. His work has primarily focused on defending human rights, whistleblowers, and exposing corruption throughout his career.
Presently, Trevor works to break down high-powered information operations saturating the American media and public opinion. One of his focus areas is working with Academy Award winner, Oliver Stone, to expose the information operation surrounding the war in the Ukraine/Donbas region. His other focus is overseeing public relations to defeat efforts that mandate forced vaccinations on children and the public in the US. Working with the Vaccine Safety Research Foundation and alongside eminent physicians including Robert Malone, MD and Dr. Peter McCullough, Trevor works to secure interviews and high-profile placements, including Joe Rogan, Tucker Carlson Tonight, CNN, the Wall Street Journal and the Today Show.
His clients have ranged from Google Foundation and Amnesty International to WikiLeaks, Julian Assange Legal Defense, Pearl Jam, the governments of Venezuela and Ecuador and its legal fight against Chevron for its destruction of the Ecuadoran rainforest.
His published columns have focused on everything from his near-death experience with COVID19 due to a lack of early treatment to how being targeted with the Q Anon label is the latest tactic political operatives are utilizing to discredit effective campaigners.
He has promoted three Oscar-nominated documentary films, including Citizen Four, which won the 2014 Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature.
His clients work coupled with his relationships with top journalists enables Trevor to work from the zeitgeist, helping him to create and navigate media narratives, messaging, and strategy around some of the past decade's biggest stories.
He has secured media placements in A-list outlets worldwide, including 60 Minutes, Meet the Press, the Wall Street Journal, New York Times, Economist, and the Financial Times.
In 2012, FitzGibbon Helps Take Down Backpage.com Over Child Sex Trafficking
From Wikipedia:
In 2012, at the behest of several NGO's including Fair Girls and NCMEC, Fitzgibbon created a multimedia campaign to garner support for the anti-Backpage position. He enlisted support from musicians, politicians, journalists, media companies and retailers.
The campaign created a greater public dialogue, both pro and con, regarding Backpage.[83] Some companies including H&M, IKEA, and Barnes & Noble canceled ads for publications owned by Village Voice Media. Over 230,000 people including 600 religious leaders, 51 attorneys general, 19 U.S. senators, over 50 non-governmental associations, musician Alicia Keys, and members of R.E.M., The Roots, and Alabama Shakes petitioned the website to remove sexual content.[68]
New York Times columnist Nicholas Kristof authored a number of columns criticizing Backpage,[84][85][86] to which Backpage publicly responded.[87] In a March 17, 2012 column, "Where Pimps Peddle Their Goods," Kristof told the story of a young woman whose "street name" was Alissa. Kristof wrote that pimps had coerced Alissa into a life of prostitution and posted ads for her on Backpage while she was underage. He also urged mainstream advertisers to boycott Village Voice Media and linked to a Change.org petition asking VVM to stop allowing its users to post adult ads on Backpage.”
