The White House said on Sunday that it still has not seen a "credible" plan from the Israeli government on how it would protect the hundreds of thousands of civilians in southern Gaza if it moves forward with an extensive military operation in the city of Rafah.
"We will not support, cannot support, an operation in Rafah that doesn't have an executable, verifiable, achievable plan to take care of the 1.5 million people that are trying to find refuge in Rafah,” National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby said on "Fox News Sunday."
Kirby said the Israeli government has said they have an evacuation plan called "humanitarian islands," but the US is only open "any credible plan plan to take care of them. But we haven't seen it yet."
The comments come after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said earlier on Sunday the operational plans for Rafah had been approved.
When asked on ABC’s "This Week" what the US response would be if Israeli moved into Rafah in the same way it has elsewhere in Gaza, Kirby said: "I don’t want to get ahead of where we are."
International concern: The head of the World Health Organization and other aid agencies have raised alarm about a potential Rafah incursion, saying the Palestinians sheltering there have already been displaced from elsewhere in the enclave and do not have anywhere safe to move to.
CNN has previously reported on Gazans who followed evacuation orders being killed by Israeli strikes, underscoring the reality that evacuation zones and warnings from the Israeli military haven’t guaranteed safety for civilians.