Israel agrees to take US concerns into account in Rafah operation

Israel agreed to take Biden administration concerns into account as it plans its next steps in Rafah to destroy the remaining Hamas battalions in Gaza, according to the White House.

It spoke out after US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan and US Secretary of State Antony Blinken held virtual talks with Israeli officials who are part of the Strategic Consultative Group, under which a security dialogue occurs between both countries.

The top Israeli participants were Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer and National Security Adviser Tzahi Hanegbi.

“The two sides over the course of two hours had a constructive engagement on Rafah,” the White House stated.

“They agreed that they share the objective to see Hamas defeated in Rafah. The U.S. side expressed its concerns with various courses of action in Rafah. 

“The Israeli side agreed to take these concerns into account and to have follow-up discussions between experts, overseen by the SCG,” the White House explained.

The follow-up discussions would include an in-person SCG meeting as early as next week, the White House said. It spoke amid reports that Dermer and Hanegbi could head to Washington next week.

Cancellation of the trip

They had initially intended to go last week, but Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu canceled that trip to protest the Biden administration’s failure to veto a UN Security Council resolution on Gaza.

The Rafah talks have been critical as US and Israeli officials attempt to bridge the difference on a military operation which Netanyahu says is an existential necessity but which Biden officials warn could further isolate Israel on the international stage.

The US wants Israel to conduct targeted strikes against Hamas, while Israel holds that it must conduct a major military operation. It has promised to evacuate the more than 1.3 million Palestinian civilians in Gaza, many of whom fled there to escape bombing in the northern part of the enclave at the start of the war.

Israel has held off on a Rafah operation in part so that it can better organize it and in part, because it has hoped that it would occur after a hostage deal and not before.

But as the hostage talks stall, the possibility of more immediate Rafah operations has increased. The Rafah operation has been one of the pressure levers Israel has used to sway Hamas to make a deal.