US can’t support Rafah assault, Blinken tells Israel

• Tel Aviv insists operation will go ahead
• US top diplomat asks Hamas to accept Gaza truce deal; Palestinian group says ceasefire must be permanent

ASHDOD: US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Wednesday he has still not seen a plan for Israel’s planned offensive on the southern Gaza city of Rafah that would protect civilians, repeating that Washington could not support such an assault.

Blinken and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met in Jerusalem for two-and-a-half hours, after which Israel repeated that the Rafah operation would go ahead despite the US position and a stark UN warning that it would lead to “tragedy”.

“We cannot, will not support a major military operation in Rafah absent an effective plan to make sure that civilians are not harmed and no, we’ve not seen such a plan,” Blinken told reporters.

“There are other ways, and in our judgment better ways, of dealing with the … ongoing challenge of Hamas that does not require a major military operation in Rafah,” he said, adding that it was the subject of ongoing talks with Israeli officials.

An Israeli government spokesperson said Israel remained determined to destroy the remaining Hamas fighting formations.

“When it comes to Rafah — we are committed to remove the last four of five Hamas battalions in Rafah — we are sharing our plans with Secretary of State Blinken,” the spokesperson told a regular briefing.

Israel is the final stop on the top US diplomat’s Middle East tour, his seventh visit to the region which was plunged into conflict on Oct 7 when Hamas attacked southern Israel, which largely focused on efforts to improve humanitarian conditions in Gaza.

Blinken spoke at Israel’s main port, Ashdod, and praised “meaningful progress” made in recent weeks on humanitarian access, including by allowing flour for Gaza to flow through the port, as well as by opening up new border crossings.

“The progress is real but given the need, given the immense need in Gaza, it needs to be accelerated, it needs to be sustained,” he said.

Blinken asked Israel’s government to take a set of specific steps to facilitate aid to Gaza, where nearly half the population are suffering catastrophic hunger, he said.

Blinken’s visit comes about a month after US President Joe Biden issued a stark warning that Washington’s policy could shift if Israel fails to take steps to address civilian harm, humanitarian suffering and the safety of aid workers.

The US diplomat also urged Hamas to accept truce deal proposed by Egyptian mediators, which would see 33 hostages released in exchange for a larger number of Palestinian prisoners and a halt to the fighting, with the possibility of further steps towards a comprehensive deal later.

“Israel has made very important compromises,” he said. “There’s no time for further haggling. The deal is there. They (Hamas) should take it.”

‘Permanent ceasefire’

A senior official for Hamas said the group was still studying the proposed deal but accused Blinken of failing to respect both sides and described Israel as the real obstacle.

“Blinken’s comments contradict reality,” Sami Abu Zuhri told Reuters.

Another official said Hamas will respond to the Israeli truce proposal for Gaza “within a very short period”, stressing though that any ceasefire needs to be permanent.

Speaking to AFP by phone from an undisclosed location, he said it was premature to say whether the Hamas envoys, who have returned from talks in Cairo to their base in Qatar, felt any progress was made. He stressed the aim was “to reach an end to this war”.

Israel is holding off sending a delegation to Cairo for follow-up truce talks, pending a response from Hamas leader in Gaza, Yahya Sinwar, an Israeli official told Reuters. “Only after he responds will we decide what to do.”

Netanyahu has insisted the Rafah operation will go ahead, whatever the outcome of the talks, and Israeli media reported on Wednesday that he was still refusing to accept Hamas’ central demand that any deal would have to include a permanent ceasefire and a withdrawal of Israeli troops.

Ynet news site, citing the Prime Minister’s Office, said Netanyahu told Blinken a Rafah operation “was not contingent on anything” and that he rejected any truce proposals that would end the Gaza war.

While facing calls to hold off on any Rafah offensive, Netanyahu has faced pressure from nationalist partners he depends on for the survival of his coalition government to press ahead. Israel has described Rafah as a last bastion of Hamas, which it has vowed to eliminate.

Published in Dawn, May 2nd, 2024