White House officials will meet with an Israeli delegation in Washington to discuss details of Israel’s plans to invade the Gaza Strip city of Rafah.
National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan claimed Israel lacks a “coherent and sustainable strategy” for preventing civilian deaths in further Gaza operations. The delegation, whose timing has yet to be announced, is just further evidence of growing friction between President Biden’s administration and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government.
“A major ground operation there would be a mistake, it would lead to more innocent civilian deaths, worsen the already dire humanitarian crisis, deepen the anarchy in Gaza, and further isolate Israel internationally,” Sullivan told reporters during a White House press briefing.
“More importantly, the key goals Israel wants to achieve in Rafah can be done by other means,” he added.
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Sullivan went on to describe a conversation between Biden and Netanyahu that took place Monday.
“The president has repeatedly made the point that continuing military operations need to be connected to a clear strategic end game,” Sullivan said. “The president told the prime minister again today that we share the goal of defeating Hamas, but we just believe you need a coherent and sustainable strategy to make that happen.”
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The White House has refused to lay out specific warnings for what may happen if Israel moves forward with a Rafah invasion that does not meet Biden’s standards.
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Biden himself appeared to suggest that he could cut off weapons deliveries to Israel in the event of mass civilian casualties, but the White House smoothed over the warning on Monday.
“What the president said today was, ‘I want you, Mr. Prime Minister, to understand exactly where I am on this. You need a strategy that works…. There is a better way,’” Sullivan said.
