Israeli media questioned the validity of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's announcement, on Friday, regarding the approval of an operational plan for a ground invasion of the city of Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip.

According to reports by Channel 12 and Yedioth Ahronoth newspaper, which were also reported by The Times of Israel, “the ground operation in Rafah is not imminent despite Netanyahu’s statements.”

Sources say that Netanyahu's talk about an imminent operation in Rafah "seems more like a pressure tool on Hamas to agree to the faltering hostage deal."

During a government meeting earlier on Friday, Israeli media reported that New Hope Party leader Gideon Saar asked Netanyahu for an update on the situation in Rafah, given that War Cabinet member Benny Gantz and others had previously said that Israel would enter the city if no agreement was reached by Ramadan.

Netanyahu responded to him, saying: “We did not say that we would be in Rafah during the month of Ramadan, but rather we said that we would move forward according to our plans.”

Tens of thousands of reserve soldiers who were stationed in Gaza withdrew weeks ago, and will have to return en masse if the Israeli army wants to carry out a large-scale ground operation in Rafah.

What happened on Friday?

Netanyahu's office said he had approved a plan to attack the city of Rafah in the far south of Gaza on the border with Egypt, where more than half of the Strip's 2.3 million residents live, after 5 months of war.

The office added in a brief statement regarding the plan to attack Rafah: “The Israeli army is preparing for military operations and the evacuation of residents.” The Prime Minister’s Office did not specify a time frame for the start of the attack, and there is no evidence yet of additional preparations on the ground.

Allies and critics on the global stage are urging Netanyahu to postpone the attack on Rafah, for fear of large numbers of civilian deaths.

Israel says that Rafah is the last stronghold of Hamas, which it pledged to eliminate in the war, and that it will evacuate residents from the city before the operation begins.

Negotiators failed again this week to reach a ceasefire agreement before the month of Ramadan, but Washington and the Arab mediators remain determined to reach an agreement to prevent the Israeli attack on Rafah and allow the entry of food aid to stave off famine.

The Israeli statement said that Hamas's demands regarding the release of the hostages are still unrealistic, but an Israeli delegation will head to Doha as soon as the security cabinet discusses the situation.