Senior Biden administration officials told Israeli security officials that the US will back Israel in targeting “high-value Hamas targets in and underneath Rafah” but not a large-scale invasion, Politico reported on Wednesday evening.
In other words, the Biden administration will support “surgical” counterterrorism operations in Rafah rather than an all-out war, a strategy it claims can still decimate Hamas while minimizing civilian casualties and avoiding “scenes that have led to souring public opinion on Israel’s campaign and Biden’s handling of the war.”
The US has asked Israel to present a plan to protect the large civilian population in Rafah but according to the report, Israel has yet to produce such a plan. Two Israeli officials said that the IDF’s plan to protect the 1.3 million Gazans in the city is still being developed.
According to military intelligence briefed to the White House, Biden administration officials doubt that Israel plans to invade Rafah soon.
“They’d have to do some repositioning of forces, and that has not happened,” said a Defense Department official. “It’s not imminent.”
The DOD official claimed that Israel has stalled the Rafah operation due to US opposition. “Israel is going to do what Israel decides to do. It’s kind of like trying to predict the weather,” he said. “But has the message sent been heard? Yes.”
However, all officials quoted by Politico stressed that Israel’s plan could change anytime.
(YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)
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One Response
Biden and his thugs have no right to dictate to israel how to fight its wars. There has never been a country other than Israel that has gone to extreme lengths to protect civilians. Anyone with intellect knows that the civilian casualties in Gaza are because they were being used as shields by Hamas. This is not secret, and Biden’s administration knows this well. They also know that the humanitarian aid is being commandeered and stolen by Hamas, which is the only reason it doesn’t reach the Palestinian civilians. But they don’t care. And we are observing America under Biden abandoning its ally, Israel, and joining forces with the terror regimes and tribes of the world. They first decided to finance the Taliban. Now they are financing Iran, Hamas, Hezbollah, and the Houthis. We have never experienced a strong a supporter of terror as Biden or Obama.
Let Israel determine its own strategies for their war. Israel will do so more responsibly than Biden or any of the anti-Israel terror lovers that he hired and put into public office.