Minister Benny Gantz (National Unity) met with members of the Biden administration on Monday evening and asserted that Israel will launch an operation in Rafah despite the international pressure against it.
Accoridng to a Yisrael Hayom report, Gantz told Gantz told National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan that “ending the war without an operation in Rafah is like sending a firefighter to extinguish 80% of the fire.”
Yisrael Hayom and other Israeli media outlets also reported that Sullivan and Vice President Kamala Harris voiced sharp criticism of Israel for the humanitarian situation in Gaza during their meetings with Gantz and demanded that an operation in Rafah be preceded by a humanitarian plan for the civilians in the city.
The New York Times reported on Monday that Harris, who slammed Israel on Sunday evening for not doing enough to aid Gazan civilians, has been pushing President Joe Biden and other senior administration officials to escalate their rhetoric on the humanitarian plight of Gazan civilians in order not to lose the support of anti-Israel Democrats.
Last month, Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu told ABC News that “those who say that we shouldn’t enter Rafah under any circumstances are basically saying lose the war – keep Hamas there.”
(YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)
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One Response
He tells this to the person who made a point of turning Afghanistan over to the Taliban, knowing that most of the population opposed the Taliban and would be horribly treated by them. Biden probably regards putting out 80% of a fire as a good compromise.