Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s planned offensive on the southern Gaza Strip city of Rafah will go ahead whether or not a hostage agreement is made with Palestinian Islamist group Hamas, he told a meeting on Tuesday. “We will enter Rafah and we will eliminate the Hamas battalions there – with or without a deal,” he told relatives of Israeli hostages and fallen soldiers, according to his office. Netanyahu is determined to launch an offensive in Rafah to eliminate the remaining strongholds of Hamas, though Israel’s allies have repeatedly urged caution, as a large majority of the appr…