Israel has previously insisted that it cannot commit to ending the war until Hamas has been destroyed, necessitating an invasion of Rafah, where it says the terror group’s last intact battalions are hiding.

Prominent voices in Israel, however, are beginning to suggest that Israel can finish the war in Gaza without having to go into Rafah.

Over the weekend, Yedioth Ahronoth, one of Israel’s most prominent and popular newspapers, urged the government to cancel the Rafah offensive as the evacuation of its 1.4 million residents could not be carried out without the cooperation with Washington, leaving Israel “in a deadlock” and ultimately “defeated in the war”.

Threat to Israeli coalition 

The Israeli leadership has been under increasing pressure from the hostages’ families to take any deal on the table. But agreeing to a prolonged ceasefire is fraught with political implications for the government of Benjamin Netanyahu.

The prime minister’s hard-Right coalition partners, including the ministers Bezalel Smotrich and Itamar Ben-Gvir, have threatened to quit the coalition in case of a hostage deal or a possible decision to scrap the operation in the south of Gaza, a move that would trigger a snap election.

In Rafah, several Israeli airstrikes overnight killed at least 22 people including six women and five children, according to local health officials. One of the children killed in the strikes was reportedly just five days old.