President Joe Biden has again cautioned Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu against moving forward with a military operation into Gaza's southernmost city of Rafah without a “credible and executable plan” to protect around 1.4 million Palestinians sheltering there.
The vast majority have fled fighting in other areas of Gaza, and hundreds of thousands are living in sprawling tent camps.
However, Netanyahu vowed early on Friday to reject “international dictates” on a long-term resolution of Israel's conflict with the Palestinians.
Two Israeli airstrikes on Rafah overnight killed at least 13 people, including nine members of the same family, according to hospital officials and relatives.
The number of Palestinians killed during the war in Gaza has surpassed 28,000 people, according to the Health Ministry in Gaza. A quarter of Gaza’s residents are starving. About 1,200 people, mostly civilians, were killed and around 250 abducted in Hamas' attack on Israel on Oct. 7 that sparked the war.
Israel’s defense minister said Israel is “thoroughly planning” its promised ground invasion of Rafah.
Defense Minister Yoav Gallant told reporters Friday that Rafah is “the next Hamas center of gravity” that Israel plans on targeting.
“We are thoroughly planning future operations in Rafah, which is a significant Hamas stronghold,” he said.
He declined to say when the operation might begin.
As he spoke, Israel pressed ahead with its operation in the nearby southern city of Khan Younis, where troops have focused on its main hospital.
Gallant said a total of 70 militants have been arrested in the hospital. He alleged 20 of them participated in the Oct. 7 cross-border attack that triggered the war.
He added that Israel has “no intention” of forcing Palestinian civilians into Egypt.
“The state of Israel has no intention of evacuating Palestinian civilians to Egypt,” he said. “We respect and value our peace agreement with Egypt, which is a cornerstone of stability in the region as well as an important partner.”
The United Nations chief warned that an all-out offense by Israel on southern Gaza city of Rafah would be devastating for Palestinian civilians there.
Secretary-General António Guterres called the situation in Gaza “an appalling indictment of the deadlock in global relations” and said the UN's humanitarian aid operation there is barely functioning.
“Rafah is at the core of the entire humanitarian aid operation,” Guterres said in an opening speech at the Munich Security Conference.
He said that humanitarian workers in Gaza are working under “unimaginable conditions” that include live fire, Israeli restrictions and the breakdown of public order.
“An all-out offensive on the city would be devastating” for the Palestinian civilians living there, he added.
