On the evening of Sunday, April 28, 2024, the Israeli army said that its chief of staff, Herzi Halevi, had approved plans to continue the war in the Gaza Strip, along with the commander of the Southern Command, Major General Yaron Finkelman, and all of the command’s division and brigade commanders.
The Israeli army said in a press statement that Halevi on Sunday “discussed and approved plans to continue the war with the commander of the Southern Command, Maj. Gen. Yaron Finkelman, and all of the command’s division and brigade commanders.”
In turn, the Jewish website Vala reported that the chief of staff during the discussion approved his operational plans for the invasion of Rafah, located south of the Gaza Strip.
30 reserve soldiers refuse to prepare for invasion in Rafah
Israel’s Channel 12 reported this evening, Sunday, April 28, 2024, that about 30 soldiers of the Israeli Army’s Parachute Brigade Reserve Forces refused orders to prepare for a military operation in the city of Rafah, south of the Gaza Strip. under the pretext of their “inability to continue hostilities.”
According to the channel, 30 soldiers of the reserve company of paratroopers attached to the regular paratrooper brigade were ordered to prepare for the operation in Rafah. She explained that the soldiers refused orders to prepare and told their commanders that they would not join their unit because “they no longer had the ability to do so.”
According to the TV channel, “the military command does not intend to force reserve personnel” to participate in the operation; It said their non-participation “would not result in an operational gap” and the report stated that it was indicative of “the state of attrition that the reserve forces are suffering from after months of fighting.”
The company commander commented on dozens of letters from his soldiers in which they expressed reluctance to participate in the military operation in Rafah, saying that he did so not because he loved war, but rather “because it needed to be done while my brothers and sisters were being kidnapped , and as we are in the process of creating a second state of Israel, “this will continue to be painful and difficult.”
“The order of battle is very low,” he added.
In a related context, John Kirby, the White House National Security Council spokesman, said Sunday that Israel has agreed to discuss Washington’s concerns and visions before invading the city of Rafah, Kirby said in statements to ABC. Israel has begun to fulfill the commitments I made to President Joe Biden regarding allowing aid to reach the northern Gaza Strip.
