According to Politico, citing four US officials, top administration officials told Israel that they would support a counterterrorism operation in Rafah rather than an all-out war. In their view, this would minimize civilian casualties while still hitting Hamas targets, thus avoiding the bad press both Israel and the White House have been suffering (The US privately told Israel the kind of Rafah campaign it could support).
On February 29, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a speech to the nation: “Victory over Hamas requires the elimination of all remaining Hamas battalions both in the center of the Strip and in Rafah. We will do so while evacuating the civilian population from the combat zones. We will do so with concern for the humanitarian needs and we will do so while respecting international law – because that is how we operate.”
The Biden administration has been urging Israel for months to explore a military strategy involving specialized, highly precise troops to combat the approximately 3,000 Hamas terrorists in Rafah. They aim to prevent the IDF from devastating the city and causing civilian casualties. Biden and his senior advisors have publicly stated that a large-scale offensive would not be tolerated.
Politico earlier revealed there were indications that Biden might link forthcoming military assistance to Israel with the scale of the campaign in Rafah. However, National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan dismissed such reports as “uninformed speculation.” By keeping the operation confined to a precise scope, it could potentially avert such measures and mitigate criticisms from congressional Democrats and other advocates for the Hamas cause.
Politico cited an Israeli official who said, “At the end of the day, we cannot win this war without defeating Hamas’ battalions in Rafah.”
Sources privy to the details of the talks between Israel and the United States this week told Kan 11 News that Netanyahu did not try to calm the Americans’ concerns about an Israeli operation in Rafah “at any stage.”
On Wednesday, Defense Minister Yoav Gallant toured the Gaza front and said, “Even those who think we are delayed, will soon see that we will reach every location necessary. We will bring to justice anyone who was involved in the massacre of October 7. We will either eliminate them or bring them to justice in Israel. There is no safe haven – not here, not outside of Gaza, not across the Middle East – we will bring them to justice.”
Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Wednesday, “With regard to Rafah, the President’s been very clear about this, repeatedly. What we’ve said to Israel is this: Given the large number of civilians that are now in Rafah, many of them displaced from other parts of Gaza, about 1.4 million, we need to see a plan that will get civilians out of harm’s way if there’s to be a military operation in Rafah – and not only gets them out of harm’s way but also ensures that they have what they need – that they have shelter, that they have food, that they have medicine. We’ve not yet seen such a plan.”
Asked if the administration is considering conditioning some military support for Israel on whether or not it goes ahead with the operation in Rafah, Blinken dodged the question, saying, “I’m not going to get into any … hypotheticals about Rafah or where that goes. All I can say is we need to see a plan for the civilians, and we’ll wait for that.”
This American habit of imposing on Israel the kind of rules of engagement by which the US military has never abided is only infuriating if considered outside the administration’s religious conviction that Iran must not be harmed because it is a partner in negotiations for limits on its nuclear program; and that there are peaceful “Palestinians” roaming the fields, picking flowers for their peaceful coexistence with the Jewish State. But every fairy tale inevitably hits midnight, when everything goes back to mice and pumpkins.
