Israel's operation in Rafah is designed to pressure Hamas in ongoing cease-fire talks, but should those fail, the Israeli military will scale up combat to take the entire area, which would strain Israel's diplomatic relations abroad and stoke divisions at home, while also potentially incentivizing Israel to escalate regionally once the Rafah campaign is complete. On May 7, the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) started a limited ground operation into the eastern parts of Gaza's southernmost city of Rafah, following volleys of strikes against Hamas positions in the city earlier the same day. Throughout the day, Israel issued a call for Palestinians to immediately evacuate the eastern parts of the city, hinting at an imminent offensive. The launch of the long-awaited ground operation comes after Israel on May 6 rejected a U.S., Egyptian and Qatari-brokered cease-fire proposal that Hamas had accepted, claiming the deal's framework was not the same as the...
