Sources: The American-Israeli meeting showed a clear division over the Rafah operation

United States – Axios quoted its sources as saying that the divisions between Washington and Tel Aviv over the planned Israeli operation in Rafah were deep and clear, during a remote meeting between officials of the two countries.

The two-and-a-half-hour virtual meeting was held earlier this week after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu earlier canceled the meeting due to the US decision not to veto a UN Security Council resolution calling for a ceasefire in Gaza and the release of… All hostages held by the Palestinian faction movement.

Two sources with direct knowledge of the meeting said it was practical and constructive, and despite their differences, the two sides held a serious discussion with the aim of reaching an understanding and not just talking.

Much of the meeting focused on how to evacuate more than a million Palestinians in southern Gaza City. The administration of US President Joe Biden reiterated its concern that a rapid and unorganized evacuation would lead to a humanitarian disaster.

Three sources familiar with the meeting said that the Israeli side presented its general ideas regarding the evacuation of civilians, and said that implementation may take at least four weeks, depending on the situation on the ground. While the American side said that this was an unrealistic estimate and informed the Israelis that they were underestimating the difficulty of the mission.

Friction point

The sources revealed that American officials informed the Israelis that the humanitarian crisis in Gaza, which has deteriorated over the past five months, does not create confidence in Israel’s ability to conduct an effective and organized evacuation of civilians from Rafah.

A US representative at the meeting said that a sufficiently planned and well-thought-out evacuation could take up to four months. The Israelis rejected this claim. “It is clear to everyone that we will have to find a compromise here,” one source said.

According to the sources, US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan warned the Israelis that the Integrated Food Security Interim Classification (IPC) organization may issue a famine declaration in the next few weeks in Gaza, indicating that if that happens, this will be only the third such declaration in the century. Twenty-first, and “that would be bad for Israel and the United States.”

According to two sources, the Israelis said they did not agree that Gaza was on the brink of famine, and claimed that the Israeli military had the best information about the situation in Gaza, and that other estimates were based on false information.

One of the sources said that the American side told the Israelis that they are the only ones in the world who claim that Gaza is not on the verge of famine. The United States made clear that it does not agree with the Israeli assessment, especially regarding the situation in northern Gaza, and stressed that denying the problem is not a good position for Israel.

The sources stated that the United States also presented its initial ideas for an alternative approach to an Israeli military operation in Rafah, indicating that the American alternative, which was presented in broad terms, includes isolating Rafah from the rest of the Gaza Strip, securing the border between Egypt and Gaza, and focusing on targeting senior leaders of the faction movement in the city. And carrying out raids based on intelligence information.

The sources reported that the main message from the United States was that while the faction movement needed to be defeated in Rafah, the Israeli army needed to operate more slowly and with less intensity than it did in Gaza City and Khan Yunis.

Source: axios