The US and Israel will hold a virtual meeting today (Thursday) on the subject of possible IDF action in Rafah - so said two senior American officials.
why is it important
The Biden administration remains concerned that an Israeli invasion of Rafah will result in massive harm to Palestinian civilians, US officials said.
The American officials emphasized that the US did not give Israel the green light to operate in Rafah if it did not respond to the Iranian attack.
in the news center
This will be the second virtual meeting between the parties on the Rafah issue. A face-to-face meeting that was supposed to take place this week in Washington was canceled due to the Iranian attack.
The American side of the talks will be headed by White House National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan. The Israeli side will be headed by Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer and National Security Advisor Tzachi Hanegbi.
Behind the Scenes
In recent weeks, since the previous virtual meeting, there have been several discussions between the parties in lower-level working groups, during which Israel presented the IDF's operational plan for action in Rafah as well as the humanitarian plans to be carried out in the event of a ground operation in the city.
A senior American noted that the plans that the IDF presented to the US Department of Defense included a slow and gradual operation in Rafah - neighborhood by neighborhood - and not an all-out invasion of the entire city.
The American official said that according to the Israeli plan that was presented to the Americans, it would not be necessary to evacuate all the citizens from the city immediately, but that each neighborhood would be evacuated separately.
the situation picture
According to the American official, there has been a significant improvement in the humanitarian situation in Gaza since the difficult conversation between President Biden and Prime Minister Netanyahu two weeks ago.
"The Israelis have not yet reached all the goals that the president set on the humanitarian issue, but there is a great improvement that we hope will continue," said the American official.