US and Israeli officials hold virtual meeting on alternative to Rafah invasion
- Joe Biden has urged Israel not to conduct a large-scale offensive in Rafah in a bid to avoid more civilian casualties among the Palestinian population
- After Monday’s virtual meeting, the White House said Israel had agreed to take US concerns over Rafah ‘into account’
High-level US and Israeli officials held two hours of virtual talks on Monday on a planned Israeli offensive in Gaza’s Rafah, with the US side expressing concerns about Israel’s plans and the Israelis agreeing to take those concerns into account, according to a joint statement.
A US official said the meeting had ended and a written statement about it was expected later, adding that follow-up discussions would include an in-person strategic consultation group as early as next week.
The White House said the US and Israel teams agreed that they share the objective of seeing Hamas defeated in Rafah.
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“If they are going to move forward with a military operation, we have to have this conversation,” Jean-Pierre said at a briefing earlier on Monday. “We have to understand how they’re going to move forward.”
