Egypt has warned Israel against attempting to launch more rescue operations to free hostages in the Gaza Strip, Lebanese media al-Akhbar reported on Thursday morning.
As per the report, Egyptian officials told their Israeli counterparts that there will be fewer, if any, opportunities to launch another operation as Hamas and other Palestinian terrorrists have successfully transferred the hostages.
According to the officials cited by the report, the hostages were taken to "locations that Israel was not able to reach even during previous incursions" in the Gaza Strip.
Israel warned to "prepare for consequences" of Rafah invasion
The officials further told Israel to "carefully study any step" before launching a military offensive into Rafah.
Egypt, which is reported to be "disturbed" by a perceived lack of communication from the United States on Israeli plans to invade the southern Gaza city, was said to be intent on "disrupting" IDF invasion plans.
The officials told their Israeli counterparts that encroaching into Rafah would "increase the risk to the lives of" the 132 hostages remaining in Gaza, and called on the IDF to "prepare to bear the consequences" of such invasion.
With the IDF completing its operational takeover of Khan Yunis, sources have confirmed to the Jerusalem Post that the IDF found no hostages there. For most of the war, the IDF said most of the Israeli hostages held by Hamas were in Khan Yunis.