US, Israel discuss Iran, Rafah during long-awaited virtual meeting

By Michael Hernandez

WASHINGTON (AA) - Delegations from the US and Israel held a virtual meeting Thursday to discuss soaring tensions between Tel Aviv and Iran as well as Israel's vowed military action on the southern Gaza city of Rafah.

The bulk of the White House's readout of the call focused on Iran, just hours after a spokesperson said the teams would largely discuss Rafah.

"The main purpose really is to talk about Rafah and to continue to have a conversation with the Israelis about their intentions and to also share our continued concerns over a major ground offensive there," National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby told reporters aboard Air Force One in response to a question about whether the teams would discuss Israel's expected reprisal on Iran.

The official White House readout of the meeting said it began "in a small group format to discuss the Iran attack and the collective efforts to further enhance Israel’s defense through advanced capabilities as well as cooperation with a broad coalition of military partners."

"The two sides then broadened to include interagency delegations to discuss Rafah. The two sides agreed on the shared objective to see Hamas defeated in Rafah," it said in a statement.

"U.S. participants expressed concerns with various courses of action in Rafah, and Israeli participants agreed to take these concerns into account and to have further follow-up discussions between experts, overseen by the SCG," it added.

The SCG is an acronym used to refer to the bilateral group known as the US-Israel Strategic Consultative Group.

National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan led the US team, while Israel's delegation was helmed by Minister for Strategic Affairs Ron Dermer and National Security Advisor Tzachi Hanegbi.

The Biden administration has been trying to schedule an in-person meeting with an interagency Israeli team since March. The US has been seeking to discuss alternatives to a full-blown invasion of Rafah, where some 1.5 million Palestinians have sought refuge after being displaced during the course of the over half-year war in Gaza.

Washington has said it would not support an invasion that does not account for the humanitarian fallout that would ensue.

Just about 200,000 people called Rafah home before Israel began its war on the besieged coastal enclave, and fears have mounted that any invasion would lead to significant civilian casualties and would further displace people who have nowhere else to go. Much of Gaza has been reduced to rubble.

Thursday’s meeting was a follow-up to another virtual session that took place on April 1. No in-person meeting has yet transpired.

An Israeli government spokesperson said earlier Thursday that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has set a date for beginning the invasion of Rafah.

“We appreciate any US support in understanding our goals in this war, which are to achieve a complete victory and ensure that Hamas does not pose a threat to our citizens,” Raquela Karamson told reporters.

The National Security Council earlier Thursday strongly rejected reports that the US gave Israel a green light to invade Rafah in exchange for Tel Aviv committing to carry out a "limited" retaliation against Iran.

A National Security Council spokesperson told Anadolu on condition of anonymity that the claim "is not true and not something that has been discussed."

The London-based Al-Araby Al-Jadeed news outlet reported earlier that the Biden administration provided the approval in exchange for Israel's vow not to carry out a large-scale reprisal against Iran for an unprecedented ballistic missile and drone attack last weekend. It cited an anonymous Egyptian source.

"The report is inaccurate," the National Security Council spokesperson said in an email.

Tehran carried out an overnight attack on Israel Saturday in response to an April 1 strike on its consulate in Damascus, Syria that killed seven Iranian military officers, including two top-ranking Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps commanders for Syria and Lebanon.

Israel has not formally taken responsibility for the strike but has carried out attacks on Iranian targets across Syria in recent months. The US has denied having any role in it.

Israel has vowed to retaliate for the Iranian reprisal. And Tehran threatened Thursday to “reconsider” its nuclear doctrine if Israel moved to attack any Iranian nuclear facility.​​​​​​​