RTRS-IDF 'Poised To Launch' Rafah Op. Just Needs Gov't Approval

Reuters reporting that according to an official from the Israeli Defence Ministry, the Israeli military is "poised to launch the Rafah military operation immediately", and is just awaiting gov't approval. Comes as a gov't spox says that the gov't is 'moving ahead' with the Rafah operation. This would be one of the largest ground operations of the entire Israel-Hamas war. The gov't of PM Benjamin Netanyahu claims such an assault is neccessary to destroy Hamas once and for all.

• Spox claims that "moving civilians out of harm's way is a key part of Israel's strategy". The Israeli gov't hasset up thousandsof tents in Khan Younis, but it remains to be seen if Palestinians will travel there, or if the provisions are sizeable enough to cope.
• An assault on Rafah, the last major conurbation in Gaza that has not been subject to an IDF ground offensive, has been criticised/warned against by Israel's alliesincluding the USfor posing too much of a risk to the >1mn Palestinians sheltering in and around the city on the Egyptian border.
• Separately, an IDF spox claimed that it has hit 40 Hezbollah targets in the area of Ayta Ash Shab in southern Lebanon. Speaking at the Northern Command HQ, Defence Minister Yoav Gallant claimed that "Half of the Hezbollah commanders in southern Lebanon have been eliminated, the other half are hiding. In the operational aspect, the coming period will be decisive".