How far will Netanyahu go in Rafah to appease his hardline coalition?

Having expected Hamas to reject – not accept – a ceasefire deal, the Israeli prime minister was primed to launch his long-planned offensive on Rafah. Will he now bow to pressure from the US and the families of Israeli hostages and hold off the assault? Kim Sengupta reports

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (Reuters)

Speaking recently in Tel Aviv, a close ally of Benjamin Netanyahu declared it would be “unthinkable” not to carry out a military offensive in Rafah to crush Hamas even if further hostage releases take place. This is what appears to be unfolding on the ground now.

An imperative for moving into Rafah, said the very senior official, was the suspicion that Hamas was using tunnels in the area to smuggle weapons into Gaza with senior commanders directing the conflict from the city.

On Tuesday morning, 12 hours after sealing off the border to Egypt with an armoured column, the Israeli military announced that it had already located three such tunnels, and expected to find more of them. A hunt, they continued, was underway to track down Yahya Sinwar and Mohammed Deif, the two Hamas chiefs who are yet to be killed or captured seven months into the war.