Netanyahu said “we are determined to complete the elimination of these (Hamas) battalions in Rafah” JERUSALEM: Destroying Hamas in Rafah would require a ground incursion by Israeli forces, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Tuesday following a call by the White House to rethink strategy around the Gaza border city packed with displaced Palestinians. Briefing lawmakers, Netanyahu said he had made “supremely clear” to US President Joe Biden “that we are determined to complete the elimination of these (Hamas) battalions in Rafah, and there’s no way to do that except by going in on the ground.”