Politics

US warns Israel against Rafah operation, Netanyahu defiant

Jerusalem, Mar 22 (EFE).- The United States Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Friday warned Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu against proceeding with plans to enter the southern Gazan city of Rafah, saying it would only further isolate Israel internationally.

Blinken was visiting Israel, a day after traveling to Cairo to meet with Egyptian and other Arab officials to discuss a possible ceasefire in Gaza.

Some 32,000 people have been killed since Israel began its military offensive in October in response to a Hamas terror attack that killed 1,200 people and saw 240 taken hostage.

While Blinken told the Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu that Washington shares Israel’s ambitions of defeating Hamas and of guaranteeing the Jewish state’s long-term security, he insisted that “a major military ground operation in Rafah is not the way to do it.”

“It risks killing more civilians, it risks wreaking greater havoc with the provision of humanitarian assistance, it risks further isolating Israel around the world and jeopardizing its long-term security and standing,” Blinken said in remarks to the press after his meeting with Netanyahu.

Blinken said that the US would prepare an alternative approach that “requires an integrated humanitarian, military, and political plan” when an Israeli delegation – headed by the Minister of Strategic Affairs, Ron Dermer, and the national security advisor, Tzachi Hanegbi, two close allies of Netanyahu – travels to Washington next week.

US president Joe Biden warned recently that sending ground troops into Rafah would cross a “red line”.

During the meeting with Blinken, Netanyahu vowed to go ahead with plans to enter Rafah, where there are more than 1.4 million internally displaced people – more than half of Gaza’s population.

“I told him that we have no way to defeat Hamas without going to Rafah and eliminating the remaining battalions there. I told him that I hope to have US support, but if necessary we will do it alone,” Netanyahu said in a video statement released after the meeting.

The Israeli leader also said he appreciated US support for more than five months and acknowledged the need to evacuate the civilian population and to address humanitarian needs.

Blinken arrived in Tel Aviv on Friday morning on his sixth Middle East tour since the conflict with Hamas in the Strip began to push for a truce agreement and an exchange of hostages for Palestinian prisoners, as well as press for more humanitarian aid to be allowed into the enclave, where half the population is at risk of imminent starvation.

“A hundred percent of the population of Gaza is acutely food insecure. A hundred percent is in need of humanitarian assistance. Now, there have been some positive steps taken in recent days to improve the situation, but it’s not enough,” Blinken said. EFE

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