Israel is backtracking.
Two days after resoundingly refusing to participate, the Israeli Prime Minister's office "indicated that they would like to find a new date to organize the meeting devoted to Rafah," a senior American official said on Wednesday.
“We are working with them to find a date,” he said.
Furious because of an abstention by the United States during a vote at the UN, Israel decided on Monday not to send a delegation to Washington as planned, in order to discuss its planned offensive against the southern locality from the Gaza Strip.
The United States assures that it has not changed course
Washington, Israel's main ally, opposes any large-scale ground offensive against Rafah, where more than a million Palestinian civilians are refugees.
President Joe Biden had personally asked Benjamin Netanyahu to send a delegation to the United States to discuss possible “alternatives”.
Also read Ceasefire in Gaza: is the United States changing its policy towards Israel?
The Israeli Prime Minister, however, decided on Monday that this delegation would not make the trip, to protest against the decision of the United States to abstain during the vote on a United Nations resolution calling for an “immediate ceasefire » in Gaza.
Video.
Gaza: the Security Council adopts its first resolution for a “ceasefire”, the United States abstains
The Americans said they were “surprised” by this reaction, affirming that they had not changed course in their support for Israel, and stressing on several occasions that in their opinion this resolution was not binding.