US VP does not rule out consequences for 'Israel' if it invades Rafah
4 Min Read
The Biden administration opposes Israeli military action in Rafah and has expressed concerns that "Israel" lacks a viable plan to protect Palestinian civilians there.
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US Vice President Kamala Harris speaks during a joint press conference with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, not pictured, at the Munich Security Conference (MSC) in Munich, Germany, Saturday, February 17, 2024. (Tobias Schwarz/Pool via AP)
US Vice President Kamala Harris did not rule out consequences for "Israel" if it decides to invade the southern Gazan city of Rafah.
"Let me tell you something: I have studied the maps. There's nowhere for those folks to go. And we're looking at about 1.5 million people in Rafah who are there because they were told to go there most of them … I am ruling out nothing," Harris said in an interview with ABC News.
In mid-March, NBC News mentioned that US officials claim the US is contemplating possible response options if "Israel" invades Rafah against the US administration's warnings and without a plan to protect civilians.
It added that the US allegedly warned "Israel" against carrying out a full-scale invasion in Rafah and suggested smaller and more targeted actions.
On Friday, Israeli occupation Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told US Secretary of State Antony Blinken that "Israel" plans to invade the southern Gazan city of Rafah even without US support.
Netanyahu said he had told Blinken that there was "no way to defeat Hamas" without troops invading Rafah, where 1.5 million displaced Palestinians have sought refuge amid the ongoing Israeli aggression.
Before he met with Netanyahu, the US Secretary of State considered on Thursday that "Hamas can be effectively dealt with without a major ground operation in Rafah."
Last week, Axios reported, citing two US officials, that US President Joe Biden's administration is considering various options instead of an Israeli ground invasion of the southern Gazan city of Rafah, which it plans to present to a senior Israeli delegation visiting Washington soon.
According to the officials, the White House has arranged this meeting in an attempt to prevent a near clash between the United States and "Israel" over Rafah.
The Biden administration strongly opposes Israeli military action in Rafah and has expressed concerns that "Israel" lacks a viable plan to protect Palestinian civilians there. But Israeli occupation Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has insisted that the invasion of Rafah is a must to "eliminate Hamas."
White House National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan warned that such an invasion could block the entry of urgently needed humanitarian aid from Egypt to Gaza, isolate "Israel" on the international stage, and jeopardize Egypt's normalization agreement with "Israel".
US and Israeli officials told Axios that, during a phone conversation, Biden surprised Netanyahu by suggesting that the premier send a delegation to Washington to discuss the Rafah operation, revealing that this was the first time the Israelis were informed about the meeting.
Two US officials mentioned that the idea had been under consideration within the Biden administration for several days as a means to steer toward a more constructive path with "Israel".
One official explained that "the fear was that the negotiations over the hostage deal could collapse and then the Israelis will just go ahead with a Rafah invasion, which would be a breaking point for the U.S.-Israeli relationship."
The US officials said that the White House recognized the necessity not only to advise "Israel" on what not to do but also to present a US alternative.
Axios said that, in recent days, the Biden administration has been exploring various alternatives to an immediate Israeli ground invasion of Rafah.
The American news website cited US officials as saying that one proposal was to postpone the invasion and instead focus on addressing the humanitarian crisis in northern Gaza, where famine is imminent, as per a UN-backed report released on Monday.
Read more: US could approve Israeli sought-after Rafah offensive
