Israel, US ready to discuss Rafah military plans
Allies working to set up meeting cancelled by Netanyahu after UN vote
Israel has asked the White House to reschedule a high-level meeting on military plans for Gaza’s southern city of Rafah that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had abruptly cancelled, officials say, in an apparent bid to ease tensions between the two allies.
Netanyahu called off a planned visit to Washington by a senior Israeli delegation after the US allowed passage of a Gaza ceasefire resolution at the United Nations on Monday, marking a new wartime low in his relations with President Joe Biden.
The suspension of this week’s meeting put a new obstacle in the way of efforts by the US, concerned about a deepening humanitarian crisis in Gaza, to get Netanyahu to consider alternatives to a ground invasion of Rafah, the last relatively safe haven for Palestinian civilians.
On Wednesday, White House spokeswoman Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters: “The prime minister’s office has agreed to reschedule the meeting dedicated” to Rafah.
“So we’re now working with them to set [a] convenient date,” she added.
An Israeli official in Washington, speaking on condition of anonymity, confirmed that a new meeting was being arranged and said Netanyahu was considering sending his delegation as early as next week.
There was no immediate comment from Netanyahu’s office.
Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant held wide-ranging discussions with senior US officials this week and sought to lower the temperature between the two governments.
Gallant, though not part of Netanyahu’s inner circle, is a key architect of the campaign against Hamas in retaliation for the militants’ October 7 rampage that Israel says killed 1,160 people.
Israel’s military response has killed more than 32,000 Palestinians, according to the health authorities in the Hamas-run enclave.
The Israeli team will still be led by Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer and National Security Adviser Tzachi Hanegbi, two of Netanyahu’s close confidants, according to a person familiar with the matter.
The talks are expected to focus on Israel’s threatened offensive in Rafah, where more than a million displaced Palestinians are sheltering.
State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said, “We do”, when asked if the US believed a limited military campaign in Rafah could take out remaining commanders of the Palestinian militant group.
The White House said last week that it intended to share with Israeli officials alternatives for eliminating Hamas’ remaining battalions in Rafah without a full-scale ground invasion that Washington says would be a “disaster”.
The threat of such an offensive has increased differences between the United States and Israel, and raised questions about whether the US might restrict military aid if Netanyahu defies Biden and presses ahead anyway.
Biden, running for re-election in November, faces pressure not just from America’s allies but from a growing number of fellow Democrats to rein in the Israeli military response in Gaza.
Biden’s decision to abstain at the UN, coming after months of mostly adhering to long-time US policy of shielding Israel at the world body, appeared to reflect growing American frustration with the Israeli leader.