What would be a “major ground operation” staged in Rafah, according to the White House? The US government has said Israel’s actions there are still not enough to qualify as that.
A “major ground operation” is when troops smash into Rafah. It can also be seen through organizing the soldiers in large units then have them march in step with others against many targets on ground. That is a major ground operation. We have not seen this,” said John Kirby, national security spokesperson at the White House during a press briefing.
The global leaders reacted and condemned Israel’s three-week-old offensive towards Rafah after Gaza officials reported an airstrike on Sunday that resulted in a tent camp fire killing 45 people in the western district of Gaza.
The US administration under Biden has cautioned Israel over carrying out full-blown military campaign against Rafah; a densely populated city located southern Gaza which served as an evacuation site for those who evacuated their houses before after being ordered by Israeli authorities. Later this month President Joe Biden clearly stated publicly that he would cut off weapons supplies to Isreal should they do any large scale invasion of Rafah without having an actual plan to spare civilians.
Israel started its incursion into Rafah on May 2nd asking almost one million displaced Palestinian civilians due to war for the last eight months to evacuate into Al-Mawasi area. According to UNRWA, about similar number have fled from Rafah since then.
Asked if it is true that Israeli forces had moved into central Rafah, Kirby explained that “my understanding is, and I believe the Israelis have spoken to this, that they are moving along something called the Philadelphia corridor, which is on the outskirts of the town, not in the town proper.”
“We’ve never seen major ground operations and these tanks are just moving along.” Speaking further on this issue of tanks moving through areas outside Rafah where Hamas controls he stated: “These tanks are moving into Rafah through a corridor that we were told they might use to exert pressure on Hamas.”
The International Court of Justice last week ordered Israel to halt its military assault on Rafah immediately, as an emergency ruling in the South African case accusing it of genocide.
Israel said Sunday it had targeted two senior Hamas operatives in a compound and had not intended to cause civilian casualties.
Kirby opined, “I don’t know how anybody could dispute that they were trying to go after Hamas in a targeted precise way,” adding that the US government would wait for results of Israel’s investigation into the incident.
Since October 7th, when the HAMAS-led attacks occurred, the US has ramped up its weapons sales to Israel more than any other country.
Until earlier this month, Rafah was one of the major points where humanitarian aid entered Gaza before Israeli increased its military action on the Gaza side of Border and seized controls over it from Palestinian side.
According to the health ministry in Gaza over 36,000 Palestinians have been killed during Israel’s offensive. On October 7th Israel launched air and ground war against Gaza with HAMAS-led militants attacking southern Israeli communities thereby killing about 1,200 people and taking hostage more than 250 others according to Israeli records.