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US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan speaks during a press conference at the White House.
The US government wants to speak to Israel as soon as possible about concerns about the planned Israeli ground offensive in Rafah.
© Evan Vucci/AP/dpa
The USA considers a ground offensive in Rafah to be wrong - and is now calling on the Israelis.
But Israel has successes: Hamas' number three is dead. The news at a glance.
Washington/Gaza/Doha - In the Gaza war, the USA wants to dissuade Israel from its planned ground offensive against the city of Rafah, which is overcrowded with refugees.
US President Joe Biden asked Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in a phone call to send a team of representatives from the military, intelligence services and humanitarian aid specialists to Washington in the next few days, said Biden's national security adviser Jake Sullivan.
Netanyahu agreed to this.
A major ground operation in Rafah would be “a mistake,” Sullivan said.
The aim is to explain the US reservations to the Israelis and discuss possible alternatives.
At the same time, Sullivan certified Israel's progress in the fight against the Islamist Hamas.
Israel's army killed Hamas' number three in Gaza, Marwan Issa, last week, he said, after days of speculation.
Israel said it had tracked down Issa, but did not initially confirm his death.
New negotiations on ceasefire and hostages
Meanwhile, new negotiations began in Qatar on a ceasefire and the release of more hostages.
Israeli television reported that the head of the Israeli foreign secret service Mossad, David Barnea, met with mediators in the emirate.
It is assumed that the talks could last at least two weeks.
Hamas recently presented a new proposal to mediators Qatar, Egypt and the USA.
In it, Hamas no longer demands that Israel end the war before the first hostages are exchanged for Palestinian prisoners in Israeli prisons.
However, according to the media, Israel is pessimistic and continues to speak of unrealistic demands from the terrorist organization.
Hamas has set a number of different conditions in the new proposal, Sullivan said.
Some people went too far in Israel.
Nevertheless, an agreement is possible in the negotiations, said Sullivan.
USA: Ground offensive in Rafah would worsen humanitarian situation
In view of the terrible humanitarian situation and the many dead civilians, there is now criticism from many countries of the Israeli military's actions in the Gaza Strip.
From Israel's perspective, however, a victory over Hamas is not possible without an operation in Rafah.
In this case, there are fears that the terrorist organization will regain strength after the war.
“There is international pressure to prevent us from entering Rafah and completing the work,” Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu said recently.
He has been rejecting this for months and will continue to do so.
But now Washington, as Israel's most important ally, is increasing the pressure.
“We believe that Hamas should not have a safe haven in Rafah or elsewhere, but a major ground operation there would be a mistake,” security adviser Sullivan said.
“It would lead to more innocent civilian deaths, worsen the already dire humanitarian crisis, deepen anarchy in Gaza and further isolate Israel internationally,” Sullivan added.
More than a million people have sought refuge in the city in the south of the sealed-off coastal strip, which borders Egypt, and Israel has not presented a plan to the United States or the world on how these people seeking protection could be brought to safety and cared for, it said.
“We assume that they will not move forward with the major military operation in Rafah until we have had this conversation,” said Sullivan, referring to the Israeli delegation now summoned to Washington.
A meeting is planned for the end of this week or the beginning of next week.
There is no specific date yet, it was said.
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USA lacks a sustainable strategy with Israel
There are ways for Israel to prevail in the conflict and end the terror threat from Gaza without invading Rafah, Sullivan said.
He did not give any details.
The US shared Israel's goal of defeating Hamas.
“But we believe this requires a coherent and sustainable strategy,” Sullivan said.
He cited yesterday's renewed operation in Shifa Hospital as an example of the weaknesses of Israel's strategy.
Israel had previously taken action against Hamas in the hospital.
However, Hamas has returned.
“This raises the question of how to ensure a sustained campaign against Hamas so that it cannot regenerate and retake territory,” the security adviser said.
Israel: More than 40 terrorists killed in Shifa operation
More than 20 terrorists were killed in the overnight operation in the hospital area, including Faik al-Mabhouh, head of a Hamas internal security department, Israeli army spokesman Daniel Hagari said.
More than 20 others were eliminated in the area.
Over 200 terror suspects have been arrested.
The information could not initially be independently verified.
There was initially no confirmation from Hamas of Al-Mabhouh's death.
The terrorist organization continues to fight from hospitals and civilian facilities and uses civilians and patients as human shields, the army spokesman said.
They tried to rebuild their base in the Shifa hospital, the largest in Gaza, and use it as a refuge.
“We will not allow this and will strike wherever Hamas tries to regain control,” he said.
EU wants to impose sanctions against Israeli settlers
Meanwhile, the EU wants to impose sanctions against radical Israeli settlers in the West Bank for the first time.
Foreign ministers of the member states agreed on corresponding plans at a meeting in Brussels, as EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell announced.
They will now be formalized in the coming days.
According to information from the dpa, Hungary announced that it no longer wanted to block the action.
The background to the sanctions plans are violent acts by extremist settlers against Palestinians - especially after the Hamas massacre in Israel on October 7th.
The attacks, like the settlement construction itself, are seen as one of the obstacles to efforts to find a long-term peace solution in the Middle East conflict.
dpa