Rhino: Agencies – The US White House said on Thursday that President Joe Biden believes that a major Israeli operation in Rafah will not achieve the goal of defeating Hamas in Gaza.
White House national security spokesman John Kirby said at a press conference that an invasion of Rafah would not achieve this goal.
Kirby added that Hamas has come under great pressure from Israel and that there are better ways to go after the remnants of the movement’s leadership than to carry out an operation fraught with great risk to civilians.
‘To say that we are abandoning Israel, or that we are not willing to help Israel defeat Hamas, is not consistent with the facts,’ he added.
A senior Israeli official said on Thursday that the current round of negotiations in Cairo aimed at reaching an agreement for the release of Israeli hostages ended without a clear resolution of differences. He added that Israel would go ahead with its operation in Rafah as planned.
‘We still believe there is a way forward, but it requires some leadership from both sides … it requires some moral courage from both sides so that they can finally come to the table and sign this deal,’ Kirby said.
Kirby explained that US-Israeli consultations are underway to explore alternatives to a major ground operation in Rafah.
‘That’s a choice for Israel to make, which we hope they don’t do,’ he said of the attack on densely populated Rafah.