Yesterday, Tuesday, the White House revealed the most complete definition yet of what it considers a “major ground operation” in Rafah that could lead to a change in US policy towards Israel, and said that Israel’s actions there “have not yet reached that level.”
John Kirby, White House national security spokesman, told reporters in a press conference: “We did not see them storming Rafah, and we did not see them entering with large units and large numbers of forces in columns and formations in the form of a coordinated maneuver against multiple targets on the ground... This is the major ground operation.” “We didn’t see that.”
In response to a question about reports that Israeli forces advanced into the center of Rafah, Kirby said: “What I understand, and I think the Israelis talked about this, is that they are moving along the so-called Philadelphia Corridor, which is located on the outskirts of the city, and not within the city limits.”
Kirby added: “We have not seen a major ground operation, and these tanks are moving along a corridor that they told us before that they would use on the outskirts of the town to try to put pressure on Hamas.” He said: “I don’t know how anyone could doubt that they were trying to go after Hamas in a precise and specific way.” ".
The Israeli attack on Rafah, which has been ongoing for three weeks, sparked anger and condemnation from world leaders, after an air strike last Sunday that officials in Gaza said resulted in the death of at least 45 people when a fire broke out in a camp in the western area of the city.
The Biden administration has repeatedly warned Israel against launching a large-scale military attack in Rafah, a city in southern Gaza crowded with displaced people who followed Israel's previous orders to evacuate there. President Joe Biden himself publicly warned Israel this month that the United States would stop supplying it with weapons if Israeli forces carried out a major ground invasion there without a credible plan to protect civilians.
When it began its ground attack in Rafah in early May, Israel asked about a million Palestinian civilians who were displaced due to the war that has been going on for nearly eight months to evacuate to the Al-Mawasi area.
Last week, the International Court of Justice ordered Israel to immediately stop its military attack on Rafah, in an emergency and historic ruling in a case filed by South Africa accusing Israel of committing the crime of genocide.
The Rafah crossing was a major entry point for humanitarian aid before Israel intensified its military attack on the border section of the Gaza Strip earlier this month and took control of the Palestinian side of the crossing.
Since last October 7, Israel has been waging a devastating war on the Gaza Strip, leaving more than 117,000 Palestinians dead and wounded, most of them children and women, and about 10,000 missing amid massive destruction and famine that claimed the lives of children and the elderly.
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