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US national security adviser Jake Sullivan has warned the Israeli government against “breaking into Rafah” as the Biden administration highlights its opposition to the planned assault on one of Gaza’s largest cities.
The United States continues to urge the Israeli government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to protect civilians and find a path to long-term peace, Sullivan said. But an assault on the southern city of Gaza was unnecessary in an attempt to “crush Hamas”, he added.
“[Biden] believes there is a path to do so, and that path is not crashing into Rafah, home to 1.3 million people, in the absence of a credible plan to deal with the local population,” Sullivan said Tuesday. “We have not seen a credible plan to protect those civilians.”
In an interview over the weekend, President Joe Biden suggested that a military operation in Rafah, the last remaining population center in southern Gaza not occupied by Israeli forces, could further strain Washington’s relations with the Jewish state.
But the president has so far not said he will deny military assistance to his ally Israel and the United States has not said what repercussions the Netanyahu government would face for ignoring Washington’s warnings about Rafah.
Sullivan also declined to speculate on whether the United States will begin placing conditions on the $3.8 billion in annual lethal aid it provides to Israel.
Biden and Netanyahu have not spoken on the phone for a month, which analysts say is a sign of the frosty climate between the leaders. Minutes after his State of the Union address to Congress last week, Biden was heard telling a U.S. senator on the floor that he needed a “Jesus encounter” with Netanyahu.
Senior U.S. and Israeli officials talk constantly, Sullivan said, adding that he hosted the Israeli ambassador to the United States in his office last Tuesday.
About 1.3 million people are taking refuge in Rafah, a city near the Egyptian border that has been a refuge for Gazans fleeing Israeli offensives elsewhere in the besieged Strip. American and Arab officials fear that any Israeli operation in the city would exacerbate an already desperate humanitarian crisis, placing intense pressure on the Gaza-Egypt border.
According to local authorities, more than 30,000 Palestinians have died in Gaza since Israel launched its offensive on the Strip. The offensive was a response to the Oct. 7 attack on Israel by Hamas that killed 1,200 people, according to Israeli authorities.
The UN has warned of an imminent famine in Gaza unless more aid arrives in the enclave, where land routes to provide assistance have been closed. The United States and other countries have begun limited drops of food and other assistance and announced plans to build a dock to receive sea shipments.
Biden is under domestic political pressure over his response to Israel’s war against Hamas and the growing death toll in Gaza, with some in his administration pushing him to take a more forceful approach to Netanyahu.
In Michigan, a crucial state the president will likely need to win to keep the White House in the November election, more than 100,000 people voted “uncommitted” in protest during the Democratic primary instead of voting for Biden — a sign of anger toward The White House support for Israel’s war on Gaza.
On Monday, eight US senators, including progressive Bernie Sanders of Vermont, sent Biden a letter urging him to stop arming Israel because they argue it is violating a US arms transfer law by limiting humanitarian aid deliveries.