Secretary of State Antony Blinken said that Israel still has not told the US the date of their announced invasion of Rafah, but that he expects the Biden administration will see “Israeli colleagues again next week” for discussions on the issue.
“The president’s been very clear about our concerns, our deep concerns about Israel's ability to move civilians out of harm's way, to care for them once they're out of harm's way and to have any kind of major military operation that doesn't do real harm to civilians, to children, to women, to men,” Blinken said during a news conference at the State Department alongside UK Foreign Secretary David Cameron in Washington, DC.
When it comes to the timing of a possible Rafah operation Blinken said he does not expect "any actions being taken" before the US talks with Israel on Rafah next week, adding: “I don’t see anything imminent."
Blinken said the US is talking to Israel about “alternatives” to an incursion into the southern Gaza city that would be more effective at “solving a problem that needs to be solved, but doing it in a way that does not endanger the innocent.”
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced on Monday that a date for an invasion into Rafah had been set, but he did not disclose it.
On aid entering the enclave, Blinken said that 400 aid trucks were cleared to enter Gaza on Monday, the highest daily number since the war began on October 7. “But what matters is results and sustained results, and this is what we will be looking at very carefully in the days ahead,” Blinken added.