Israel Plans to Attack Rafah Despite U.S. Doubts

The U.S. is trying to dissuade Israel from launching a ground assault in the Gaza border city of Rafah. Israel says it isn’t going to listen: Taking Rafah from Hamas is too important to its strategy for winning the war.

The tensions show the mounting strains between the two allies over Israel’s conduct of the war in the Palestinian enclave.

The Biden administration is hoping to persuade senior Israeli officials visiting Washington in the coming days that suppressing Hamas, which the U.S. and Israel agree is a terrorist organization, doesn’t require a full ground invasion of Rafah. U.S. officials fear the operation could become a bloodbath that adds to global anger over Israel’s war in Gaza.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Friday that Israel’s military would press ahead with a ground operation in Rafah with or without U.S. support. “We have no way to defeat Hamas without entering Rafah and eliminating the remnant of the battalions there,” Netanyahu said.

His comments came after a visit by U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, who warned against a ground assault in Rafah. “It risks killing more civilians, it risks wreaking greater havoc with the provision of humanitarian assistance, it risks further isolating Israel around the world and jeopardizing its long-term security and standing.”