On Saturday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu asked Army Chief of Staff Herzi Halevy to remobilize reserve soldiers in preparation for launching a military ground operation in the city of Rafah, south of the Gaza Strip, according to Hebrew media.

The private Hebrew Channel 13 said that Netanyahu asked Halevy to remobilize the reserve forces that were demobilized in preparation for the possible operation of the Israeli army in Rafah.

In turn, Halevy said, “The army will be able to handle any mission, but there are political aspects that must be taken care of first,” according to the same source.

Meanwhile, a senior Israeli official, who preferred to remain anonymous, told the same channel: “The operation in Rafah is approaching.”

On Friday, Israel officially announced its readiness for the operation in Rafah, when the Prime Minister's Office announced that Netanyahu "ordered the Israeli army and the security establishment to submit a dual plan to the government to evacuate the population and destroy Hamas brigades."

The Israeli army is preparing to carry out a ground military operation in the Rafah area, south of the Gaza Strip, according to official sources and Hebrew media.

Israel informed a number of countries in the region and the United States that it is preparing for military activity in the Rafah area, according to the official broadcasting authority.

International estimates indicate that there are between 1.2 and 1.4 million Palestinians in Rafah after the Israeli army forced hundreds of thousands of Palestinians in the northern Gaza Strip to flee to the south.

Since the beginning of the ground operation launched by Israel in the Gaza Strip on October 27, it has been asking residents to go from the north and center of the Strip to the south, claiming that they are safe areas, but it has not been spared from bombing homes and cars.

As of Saturday, the ground operation had reached Khan Yunis and had not extended to Rafah, even though the Israeli army had carried out air strikes and extensive artillery shelling on sites in Rafah since the beginning of the war on October 7.