Palestinian Resistance Factions: Geared Up for Rafah Invasion Scenario

By Al Mayadeen English

Palestinian factions release a joint statement warning against an Israeli invasion of Rafah.

Palestinian Resistance factions affirmed in a joint statement that the Resistance is all geared up for any plausible scenario in the ongoing Israeli aggression on the Gaza Strip, including a ground invasion of Rafah, the southernmost city in the besieged territory. 

In a statement on Wednesday, the factions emphasized that they "will not sit idly by," as "all options (for escalation) are on the table," warning against the catastrophic and humanitarian consequences of any ground aggression on Rafah, which hosts more than 1.4 million displaced Palestinians.

The Palestinian factions held US President Joe Biden's administration and Western governments fully responsible for any Israeli invasion of Rafah, as Western backing to "Israel" is ongoing despite the occupation's violation of multiple international conventions and laws.

In the same context, the factions called on the Palestinian masses in the cities of the West Bank to "rise vehemently" in protest against Israeli threats of invading Rafah.

"We call on our people to turn the West Bank into a fireball in the face of Israeli settlers and soldiers," the statement urged. 

Furthermore, the Palestinian factions affirmed that the Israeli genocidal war would not restore the defeated military of the occupation.

They also warned of "a comprehensive escalation and explosion that will affect the region and threaten its national security, especially Egyptian national security," in case an invasion into Rafah, which borders Egypt, is launched. 

On the same issue, Ismail Haniyeh, the head of Hamas' Political Bureau, affirmed that "Washington's stance [on the issue] is deceptive" and that Palestinians "have not fallen into the trap of" the American and Israeli good cop bad cop act. 

Haniyeh stressed, in an interview for the Turkish Anadolu Agency on April 21, that "if the enemy decides to go to Rafah, our people will not raise the white flag, and the resistance is ready to defend itself."