Is Israel's coveted Rafah operation a strategic target or a bargaining chip?

Haaretz

Lean Left

High Factuality

Independent: Salman Schocken

Media Conglomerate: M. DuMont Schauberg

Is Israel's coveted Rafah operation a strategic target or a bargaining chip?

For Egypt, ending the war is vital no less than it is for Hamas, and the preperations for a Rafah operation, which could worsen the humanitarian crisis, strain it's relationship with Israel, and cause masses of Gazans to cross the border, have made the mediator an interested party