The US believes an Israeli operation in Gaza’s southern town of Rafah would be a mistake and is “urgently” working toward a ceasefire, White House National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan said.
This comes as the Biden administration has assessed that Israel has amassed enough troops on the edge of the city of Rafah in Gaza to move forward with a full-scale incursion in the coming days, two senior administration officials told CNN.
The White House is urging Israel to connect their military operations to a “clear” end game for Israel’s ongoing war against Hamas, Sullivan told reporters.
A top State Department official said the US and Israel are “struggling over what the theory of victory is” for Israel in Gaza, and that US does not believe that the kind of total victory Israel says it is fighting for against Hamas is “likely or possible.”
Meanwhile, here’s what else has happened in Israel’s war in Gaza:
Aid to Gaza ransacked: Israeli activists opposed to sending help to Palestinians in Gaza intercepted and ransacked a shipment of humanitarian aid bound for Gaza. Video from the Tarkumiya checkpoint near Hebron in the West Bank, through which the convoy was traveling, shows at least two trucks ransacked, with sacks and boxes of food strewn across the road. Other footage showed activists blocking the path of the aid trucks, throwing the aid packages on the ground, and stomping on the boxes. It’s unclear whether the aid was coming from Jordan or the Palestinian Authority.
UN staffer killed and injured: At least one United Nations aid worker was killed and another injured after a vehicle marked as belonging to the agency was attacked in Rafah on Monday, according to Farhan Haq, deputy spokesman for the UN secretary-general. Haq did not assign blame to either Israel or Hamas for the attack.
Unclear Israeli military strategy: The Israeli military has renewed its fighting in northern Gaza where it previously claimed to have dismantled Hamas’ command structure. But it now says the Palestinian militant group is trying to “reassemble” in the area, raising doubts about whether Israel’s goal to eradicate the group in the enclave is realistic and renewing questions about its long-term military strategy.
Probe into intel failures: The Israeli State Comptroller’s Office, which is investigating possible intelligence failures prior to the October 7 terror attack by Hamas, has welcomed a Supreme Court decision denying a request by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) to delay the inquiry. The office said it expects “all audited entities to order their people to comply with the duty imposed on them … and to fully cooperate.”
