Washington has said it cannot support a major military operation in Rafah. Israeli officials have described the coming campaign as essential to defeating Hamas.
Israeli armored vehicles are parked in an area next to the Israeli-Gaza border, as seen from southern Israel on Thursday. Fighting in Gaza began to ebb earlier this month as Israel withdrew most of its ground troops from the enclave. The opening of new border crossings allowed for the entry of more desperately needed aid. And Israeli officials resumed discussions Thursday over a possible cease-fire deal after months of dead-end diplomacy.
Israel had intended to present its Rafah plans to the Biden administration in the “coming days,” the Israeli official said, though it was unclear if the new diplomatic push might impact the timing. U.S. officials have insisted on a “credible” plan to evacuate displaced Palestinians, yet most families have already been uprooted multiples times during 200 days of war and many have no homes in which to return.
But he noted Israel’s recent efforts, under American pressure, to address Gaza’s hunger crisis — allowing more aid trucks to cross and working with the United Nations to reopen bakeries in the north. An IDF engineering unit, which has been practicing on an Israeli beach with U.S. military counterparts, will secure a U.S.-built floating pier in central Gaza, a senior U.S. defense official told reporters Thursday.
The United Nations Relief and Works Agency, the U.N. agency for Palestinian refugees, also plans to relocate its base from Rafah to Deir al-Balah if the offensive goes ahead, a UNRWA employee told The Post, speaking on the condition of anonymity since they were not authorized to speak publicly. “We’ll see at a certain point the IDF sending pamphlets and telling people to move to Khan Younis and the coastal area,” said Amir Avivi, a reservist brigadier general and former deputy commander of the IDF’s Gaza Division. “The decision was made already, a timetable was set, whether they move it a few days or not it’s not really the point.”Anxiety over the operation is not limited to Washington.
While Israeli officials say that humanitarian plans are being closely coordinated with Egypt, Cairo has been adamant that is not the case — wary of being seen as complicit in another displacement of Palestinians. In a statement this week, Diaa Rashwan, head of the State Information Service, said Egypt “completely denies” any discussion with Israel regarding the Rafah invasion.
“These camps aim to alleviate the suffering of the residents of the Gaza Strip, specifically in the south, in light of the presence of large numbers of displaced people,” he said.
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