Intensive US-Israeli discussions about the plan for the imminent military attack on Rafah
US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin and his Israeli counterpart Yoav Gallant discussed Israel’s expected plan to launch a ground attack on the city of Rafah, south of the Gaza Strip.
This came in a telephone call, according to a statement by the US Department of Defense, which indicated that the call also dealt with efforts to reach a prisoner exchange agreement and humanitarian relief efforts.
Austin renewed his country’s unconditional commitment to release all prisoners, stressing the importance of increasing the flow of humanitarian aid to Gaza by ensuring the security of relief workers and civilians.
He touched on the possible ground attack on Rafah, stressing the need for Israel’s offensive plan to include the evacuation of Palestinian civilians in the region and the continued arrival of humanitarian aid.
The pace of Israeli raids in Rafah has recently increased, with Israel insisting on invading the city, claiming to confront the last stronghold of the Hamas movement, despite increasing international warnings of catastrophic repercussions, in light of the presence of more than a million displaced people there.
On Wednesday, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken informed Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that Washington currently opposes any broad Israeli military operation in the city of Rafah, according to what the official Israeli Broadcasting Corporation reported.
