Blinken meets Netanyahu, reiterates US opposition to Israeli offensive in Rafah

By Ahmed Asmar

ANKARA (AA) – US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Wednesday reiterated US opposition to an Israeli military operation in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip.

Blinken held talks with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on the last leg of a regional tour to push for a cease-fire deal in Gaza.

According to Israeli public broadcaster KAN, Blinken told Netanyahu that the US opposes a military operation in Rafah, home to more than 1.4 million displaced Palestinians at the southern tip of the Gaza Strip.

The top US diplomat also called for doing more to allow humanitarian aid into the besieged enclave, KAN said.

Matthew Miller, a spokesman for the US State Department, said Blinken “reiterated the United States’ clear position on Rafah.”

Talks between the two sides took up ongoing efforts to reach an immediate cease-fire in Gaza as part of a hostage deal and the importance of accelerating and sustaining an improvement in aid flow into the enclave, he said in a statement.

Blinken spoke with Netanyahu on "the need to avoid further expansion of the conflict" into the region, Miller said.

Despite growing international opposition, Netanyahu said on Tuesday that the army will invade Rafah with or without a hostage deal with Hamas.

Rafah is the last remaining area in the enclave where Israel has not yet formally announced the entry of its troops to continue the onslaught against Palestinians.

Blinken had already visited Saudi Arabia and Jordan as part of his current regional tour, which came amid reports of a possible cease-fire deal between Hamas and Israel to end the conflict in the Gaza Strip.

Hamas, which is believed to be holding nearly 130 Israeli hostages, demands an end to Israel’s ongoing offensive on Gaza in return for any hostage deal with Tel Aviv.

Israel has waged an unrelenting offensive on the Palestinian enclave since a cross-border attack by Hamas last Oct. 7 which killed some 1,200 people.

More than 34,500 Palestinians have since been killed, mostly women and children, and thousands injured amid mass destruction and severe shortages of necessities.

Israel has also imposed a crippling siege on the seaside enclave, leaving most of its population, particularly residents of northern Gaza, on the verge of starvation.

More than six months into the Israeli war, vast swathes of Gaza lay in ruins, pushing 85% of the enclave’s population into internal displacement amid a crippling blockade of food, clean water, and medicine, according to the UN.

Israel is also accused of genocide at the International Court of Justice. An interim ruling in January ordered Tel Aviv to stop genocidal acts and take measures to guarantee that humanitarian assistance is provided to civilians in Gaza.