Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed on March 17 to send ground forces into Gaza's southern Rafah city despite growing international concern over the fate of Palestinian civilians sheltering there.
Mr. Netanyahu, whose security and war Cabinets were later due to discuss latest international efforts towards a truce deal, stressed that "no amount of international pressure will stop us from realising all the goals of the war".
"To do this, we will also operate in Rafah," he told a Cabinet meeting, hours before he was set to meet visiting German Chancellor Olaf Scholz for talks on the war raging since October 7.
