Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu wants to resist US pressure and is sticking to a ground offensive in the southern Gaza Strip town of Rafah, which is currently overflowing with refugees.
In his phone call with US President Joe Biden, he “made it clear to him” that Israel was determined to destroy the last battalions of Islamist Hamas in Rafah.
Netanyahu told the Israeli parliament's Foreign Affairs and Security Committee yesterday that he had “no choice but to go to the ground,” The Times of Israel reported.
In a conversation with Biden earlier in the day, he agreed to his request to send a delegation to Washington in the coming days. According to media reports, the US wants to show alternatives to a ground attack there.
Alternative recommendations from the US
We didn't just say, 'No, you can't do that.' “We are ready to work with them on possible alternatives to help them further achieve their goals,” the Times of Israel quoted a senior US official as saying today.
One approach could be for Israel to focus on preventing arms smuggling from Egypt to Gaza through the Philadelphia Corridor instead of a ground attack.
The news website Axios, citing US officials, had previously reported that this option was being considered by Washington. Another idea would be to postpone the military operation in Rafah and focus on stabilizing the humanitarian situation in the north of the sealed coastal zone, the news website said. According to the United Nations, there is a risk of famine.
