Antony Blinken with Benjamin Netanyahu
On Wednesday, Secretary of State Antony Blinken stated that he made clear to Israeli leaders United States opposition to a larger strike on Rafah.
Blinken stated, “Our position is clear. It hasn’t changed, it won’t change”.
“We cannot and will not support a major military operation in Rafah absent an effective plan to make sure that civilians are not harmed, and we’ve not seen such a plan”, Blinken continued.
Blinken went on to say, “At the same time, there are other ways, and in our judgement, better ways of dealing with the real ongoing challenge of Hamas that does not require a major military operation in Rafah”.
Despite US objections, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has vowed to launch an assault on Rafah to root out Hamas, regardless of whether the operatives accept a proposal for a temporary ceasefire in exchange for captives’ release.
Blinken, whose meeting with Netanyahu in Jerusalem went longer than expected, declined to define the Israeli leader’s position while emphasizing that the US would continue to express concerns.
“We’ve been talking to the Israelis about that and we’ll continue those conversations”, Blinken added of Rafah.
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