Netanyahu says Israel will not keep civilians trapped in Rafah

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Sunday that Israel would not leave civilians trapped in Rafah when its forces begin a long-expected assault on the southern Gaza city where more than 1 million Palestinians have taken shelter.

"It's not something we will do while keeping the population locked in place. In fact, we'll do the very opposite, we will enable them to leave," he said during a press statement in Jerusalem with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz.

The German chancellor said that an Israeli assault on Rafah would make regional peace "very difficult".