Israeli Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer (pictured) insisted on Thursday that his country’s army will continue its operation in the Gazan city of Rafah until it claims it despite the United States’s opposition to that .Speaking on the Call Me Back podcast, Dermer stressed the importance of capturing Rafah as it shelters a quarter of Hamas’s members. He added that Israel is willing to learn the US’s stance on the matter but that the operation must be concluded even if an agreement on evacuating civilians from there is not reached. The minister’s comments came a day ahead of US Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s visit to Israel.