'Deadly trap' Parents of 900 soldiers call for Rafah attack to be cancelled

The parents of more than 900 Israeli soldiers deployed in Gaza have signed a letter urging the military to call off an offensive in Rafah, calling it a "deadly trap" for their children.

- Lorenzo Tondo, Quique Kierszenbaum

"It is evident to anyone with common sense that after months of warnings and announcements regarding an incursion into Rafah, there are forces on the other side actively preparing to strike our troops," the letter says.

"Our sons are physically and mentally exhausted," it adds. "And now, you intend to send them into this perilous situation?... This appears to be nothing short of recklessness." The letter, sent on 2 May and addressed to the defence minister, Yoav Gallant, and the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) chief of staff, Lt Gen Herzi Halevi, was initially signed by the parents of about 600 soldiers but in recent days the parents of another 300 have added their names.

More than 350,000 Palestinians have fled Rafah in the past week after Israeli warnings to evacuate before an imminent military assault that will open a bloody new phase of the eight-month conflict.

The Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, has rejected US pressure to hold off an attack on the city where about a million Palestinians sought shelter after fleeing fighting earlier in the conflict.