U.S. says major Israel attack on Rafah would be ‘huge mistake’
U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris warned Israel against a major attack on the Gazan city of Rafah, where more than a million Palestinians have sought refuge as the war against Hamas continues.
While broadly in line with the Biden administration’s repeated cautions to Israel, Harris’ comments on Sunday went beyond remarks by Secretary of State Antony Blinken during his trip to the region last week.
“I am ruling out nothing,” Harris said to ABC when asked whether there would be consequences for a military assault on Rafah, which borders Egypt. “We have been clear in multiple conversations and in every way that any major military operation in Rafah would be a huge mistake.”
Israel says it must send troops into Rafah at some stage because it’s the last remaining bastion of Hamas, an Iran-backed Islamist organization. Israeli intelligence estimates there are around 5,000 to 8,000 Hamas fighters and group leaders in the city, Bloomberg has reported.
Most of the rest of the world wants Israel to call off those plans and it’s an increasingly significant source of contention between the Israeli government and the U.S.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said the Israeli military will allow the civilians out of Rafah before any offensive, but there’s skepticism it can be done safely and quickly. It’s also unclear where exactly they’d be moved to, with much of the rest of Gaza either destroyed or still a warzone.
Netanyahu says that if Israel doesn’t move into Rafah, Hamas could regroup and eventually carry out another attack similar to the one on Oct. 7 that sparked the war. Hamas and other militants killed 1,200 people in southern Israel and took 240 hostage.
Israel’s retaliatory air and ground attack on Gaza has killed more than 32,000 people, according to the Hamas-run health ministry. The U.S. and the European Union consider Hamas a terrorist group.
An Israeli delegation is in Washington this week to discuss Rafah. It will be led by Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer — who’s one of Netanyahu’s closest allies — and Tzachi Hanegbi, the national security advisor.
Defense Minister Yoav Gallant is there separately, and will meet with his U.S. counterpart, Lloyd Austin, as well as Blinken.
Blinken says U.S. officials will provide the Israelis with details about alternatives to a major ground operation in Rafah.
“A major military ground operation in Rafah is not the way to do it,” Blinken said while visiting Tel Aviv on Friday. “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.”
After meeting Blinken, Netanyahu spelled out a very different perspective.
“We have no way to defeat Hamas without entering Rafah and eliminating the remnant of the battalions there,” he said. “I told him that I hope we would do this with U.S. support but if necessary, we will do it alone.”
Biden is also stepping up calls for Israel to allow more aid into Gaza as the humanitarian situation worsens and the United Nations warns of a famine.
“It’s time to truly flood Gaza with life-saving aid,” U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said on Sunday while at the Egyptian side of the Rafah border crossing. “The choice is clear: either surge or starvation.”