US still opposes Rafah invasion after Netanyahu vows to go in 'with or without' cease-fire deal

By Michael Hernandez

WASHINGTON (AA) - The White House said Tuesday that it continues to oppose an Israeli invasion of the southern Gaza city of Rafah after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said his forces will enter "with or without" a cease-fire deal with Hamas.

"We don't want to see a major ground operation in Rafah. Certainly, we don't want to see operations that haven't factored in safety and security of those 1.5 million folks trying to seek refuge down there," National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby told reporters, referring to the displaced Palestinians who have sought safety in Rafah.

Kirby added that the Biden administration "certainly" has not seen a plan from Israel that would "with the one and a half million people that are seeking refuge there, which would complicate any such major ground operation."

Earlier Tuesday, Netanyahu said Israel's military would enter Rafah to destroy the Hamas battalions remaining there "with or without" a cease-fire agreement with the Palestinian group.

“The idea that we will stop the war before achieving all its objectives is out of the question," the Israeli premier said. "We have begun the evacuation of the population in Rafah. We will be there soon."

Secretary of State Antony Blinken is currently in Jordan on a regional tour that will also take him to Israel as he seeks to advance the cease-fire proposal.

The US has said the proposal would include a six week cease-fire when an initial batch of hostages that remain in Hamas captivity would be released, and humanitarian aid deliveries to the coastal enclave would ramp up.

That period has been billed as an initial phase that could lead to a longer-term truce wherein more hostages would be freed, and Palestinians would be able to return to their homes if they had not been previously destroyed.

Israel has waged a military offensive on Gaza since the Oct. 7, 2023 cross-border attack led by Hamas which killed some 1,200 people.

More than 34,500 Palestinians have since been killed in Gaza, the vast majority of whom have been women and children, with thousands of others injured amid mass destruction and severe shortages of necessities.

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.