A couple of days after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced a ground offensive in the occupied Palestinian territory of Rafah, White House spokesperson Karine Jean-Pierre said that US and Israeli officials are likely to meet early next week in Washington to discuss the Israeli military operation and the imminent famine in Gaza.
US President Joe Biden has asked Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to send a senior team of military, intelligence and humanitarian officials to Washington for meetings in the coming days for comprehensive discussions, Jean-Pierre said.
Details are still being worked out, but the meeting would probably occur early next week, she said, adding the White House urged Israel to do more to allow humanitarian aid to flow into Gaza.
The White House spokesperson’s statement came within hours after Netanyahu said destroying Hamas in Rafah will require a ground incursion by Israeli forces.
Netanyahu was responding to a call by the White House to rethink strategy around the Gaza border city packed with displaced Palestinians.
Briefing lawmakers, Netanyahu said he had made “supremely clear” to US President Joe Biden “that we are determined to complete the elimination of these [Hamas] battalions in Rafah, and there’s no way to do that except by going in on the ground”.
In a related development, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni on Tuesday opposed a ground incursion by Israeli forces into Rafah.
Meloni told lawmakers in the Senate, “We will reiterate our opposition to military action on the ground by Israel in Rafah that could have even more catastrophic consequences for the civilians crowded in that area.”
She said that opening of new land routes and a maritime corridor from Cyprus to Gaza to ensure the safe delivery of humanitarian aid to the Palestinian enclave was a priority.
