Can Israel Defeat Hamas in Rafah Without a Steep Civilian Cost?

Media voices around the world weighed in on Israel’s expected invasion of Rafah — where Hamas’ remaining battalions are holding out among over a million overcrowded civilians — highlighting long-running themes in coverage of the conflict. 

‘A blatant ethnic cleansing campaign’: A writer in Al Jazeera (Lean Left bias) echoed a long-running belief by many Palestinians that the destruction associated with Israel’s campaign against Hamas amounted to genocide. She told the story of her 89-year-old aunt, who fled to Rafah when the Israeli military occupied Khan Younis in 1956, casting an expected modern-day assault on the “ancient, precious city” of Rafah as the “final opportunity” for the international community to intervene. 

‘Israel is in a bind’: A writer in The Jerusalem Post (Center bias) highlighted the United States’ warnings against an Israeli invasion of Rafah, arguing that Israel could “creatively” assuage American humanitarian concerns by “creating a temporary tent city to house displaced people on its side of the border” to relocate Rafah’s civilians while it pursued Hamas. 

‘Rafah is Hamas’s last stand’: The Wall Street Journal (Opinion rated Lean Right) Editorial Board questioned why the Biden administration was “opposed” to Israel capturing Rafah, characterizing the stance as “cooperating” with Hamas pulling “every political lever to stop Israel.” Ultimately, they wrote, “There’s no defeating Hamas and freeing the hostages without turning to Rafah.”