RAFAH RED LIGHT
‘Huge mistake’ if Israel invades: Kam
Vice President Kamala Harris on Sunday kept open the possibility of US consequences if Israel ignores the Biden administration’s “red line” and barrels into the southern Gazan city of Rafah.
“We have been clear in multiple conversations and in every way that any major military operation in Rafah would be a huge mistake,” Harris said on ABC’s “This Week.”
“I have studied the maps. There’s nowhere for those folks to go,” she said, referring to Palestinian civilians taking refuge in Rafah.
An estimated 1.4 million Palestinians have flocked to Rafah during Israel’s offensive in the north to root out Hamas terrorists.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s administration contends that Rafah is one of the last strongholds of Hamas in the tiny Palestinian strip.
He has signaled a willingness to go it alone with an offensive there, without the Biden administration’s blessing.
Top Biden administration officials such as National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan have repeatedly underscored their demand for Israel to first have a robust plan in place for civilians during such an operation.
Harris, asked if there would be consequences for Israel disobeying the administration’s “red line,” refused to deny it, only saying, “We’re gonna take it one step at a time.”
Biden earlier this month said he was against further fighting in Rafah and called an all-out invasion by Israel of the area a “red line” for his administration. He then backtracked, saying, “There’s no red line [at which] I’m going to cut off all weapons so they don’t have the Iron Dome to protect them.”
A delegation from Israel is expected to meet with top officials in DC this week to hear alternatives for Rafah.
Biden and Netanyahu spoke last Monday for the first time in roughly a month as tensions are reportedly high between the pair, who are typically strong allies.
On Friday, a rare US-backed resolution calling for a cease-fire in Gaza failed in the UN.
US support for the resolution marked a stunning break, as Washington is typically the one scuttling UN resolutions that go against the Jewish state’s wishes.
Earlier this month, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY), the highest-ranking elected Jewish official in the US, called for new elections in Israel.
Mum on Chuck
“I will not speak for Sen. Schumer,” the vice president said Sunday when asked about the senator’s comment. “But we are very clear that that is on the Israeli people to make a decision about when they will have an election and who of course they elect to lead their government.”
Harris — whose husband, Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff, is the first Jewish spouse of a vice president — demurred about Schumer’s contention that Netanyahu is an “obstacle” to peace.