TEHRAN � A prominent Iranian politician warns that Israel is seeking to expel Palestinians from the Gaza Strip as its army is preparing to attack the city of Rafah, which currently shelters over 1.5 displaced civilians. “After the shock it received during Operation Al Aqsa Storm, Israel decided to respond to the Palestinian offensive by killing a significantly larger number of people in Gaza. But it realized that to re establish deterrence, more had to be done. That’s why after a few weeks, the regime began a ground assault into the besieged strip,” Sadegh Hossein Jaberi Ansari told the Tehran Times on the sidelines of a media exhibition in Tehran on Tuesday. The former foreign ministry spokesman explained that Israel is essentially waging two wars: one against Hamas fighters and one against the public in Gaza. “The regime believes that the young population of Gaza is going to produce more Hamas fighters. That’s why it wants to either kill the civilians or force them to move to another land,” Ansari noted. The politician said he believed Rafah was supposed to be the last target for Israeli forces since the beginning. “Zionists gradually pushed people away from northern and southern Gaza and forced them into Rafah. Now Rafah is the last point. Once Israel manages to expel people from this region, it has managed to reach its strategic goals.”

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TEHRAN � A prominent Iranian politician warns that Israel is seeking to expel Palestinians from the Gaza Strip as its army is preparing to attack the city of Rafah, which currently shelters over 1.5 displaced civilians. “After the shock it received during Operation Al Aqsa Storm, Israel decided to respond to the Palestinian offensive by killing a significantly larger number of people in Gaza. But it realized that to re establish deterrence, more had to be done. That’s why after a few weeks, the regime began a ground assault into the besieged strip,” Sadegh Hossein Jaberi Ansari told the Tehran Times on the sidelines of a media exhibition in Tehran on Tuesday. The former foreign ministry spokesman explained that Israel is essentially waging two wars: one against Hamas fighters and one against the public in Gaza. “The regime believes that the young population of Gaza is going to produce more Hamas fighters. That’s why it wants to either kill the civilians or force them to move to another land,” Ansari noted. The politician said he believed Rafah was supposed to be the last target for Israeli forces since the beginning. “Zionists gradually pushed people away from northern and southern Gaza and forced them into Rafah. Now Rafah is the last point. Once Israel manages to expel people from this region, it has managed to reach its strategic goals.”