White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan reiterated during Sunday’s visit that the Biden administration is pressuring Israel to limit military operations in Gaza.
Sullivan is making a joint visit to Israel and Saudi Arabia as the United States relies on its key Arab allies in the region to calm tensions in the Middle East amid the Israel-Hamas war.
Ahead of Sunday’s meeting with Prime Minister Sullivan, the White House said it would urge Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to conduct a limited operation in Rafah, rather than a full-scale invasion as is occurring in other parts of Gaza. Announced.
More than a million people are thought to have taken refuge in Rafah, the last major settlement not invaded by Israeli ground forces. Israel has been shelling the city for months, fueling fears of a growing humanitarian crisis.
At least 28 Palestinians were killed on Sunday, most in an attack on a home in Nuseyrat in the central Gaza Strip, Gaza health officials and Hamas said.
Mr. Biden has taken a hard line against Mr. Rafah, promising to end military aid if Israel invades the city. The Biden administration said that despite infiltrating parts of the city, the current operation did not cross the line to trigger a disarmament.
The pressure comes as Hamas re-emerges in areas previously cleared by Israeli forces and the Israeli government scrambles to uncover its plans for the Gaza Strip. Israeli opposition leader Benny Gantz said on Saturday that he would leave the war cabinet if Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu did not develop a solid plan for governing Gaza by next month.
The United States and Saudi Arabia are also said to be in final negotiations on a security agreement, with Sullivan holding talks with Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman over the weekend.
Relations between Israel and Saudi Arabia have deteriorated significantly since the outbreak of the Israel-Hamas war, when the two countries came close to an unprecedented normalization agreement.
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