Israel’s actions in Rafah so far did not represent a “major ground operation” that would violate President Joe Biden’s warnings, the United States said Tuesday.
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As Israeli forces advanced deeper into Rafah just days after an airstrike ignited a major fire, killing dozens of Palestinians, the White House confirmed that its ally had not breached the Biden administration’s “red line.”
Israeli tanks entered central Rafah for the first time on Tuesday, amid growing international condemnation over the deaths in a crowded tent camp for displaced civilians. Additionally, U.S. aid deliveries to Gaza by sea were suspended following damage to its temporary pier. On Wednesday, Israel's national security adviser predicted the war would continue through the end of the year.
However, National Security Council spokesman John Kirby assured reporters that the United States was not ignoring Israel’s operations in southern Gaza, from which about 1 million Palestinians have fled in recent weeks.
Kirby stated that the Biden administration did not consider Israel’s actions in Rafah so far to constitute a “major ground operation” that would violate President Joe Biden’s warnings and prompt a change in U.S. policy, including a potential halt to weapons shipments.
“A major ground operation involves thousands of troops moving in a coordinated manner against multiple targets on the ground,” Kirby explained.
A U.S. official similarly told NBC News that while the deadly strike was considered a “horrific incident,” it seemed to result from an airstrike gone “horribly wrong” and did not signify Israel “smashing into Rafah.”
Earlier this month, Biden told CNN: “I made it clear that if they go into Rafah — they haven’t gone in Rafah yet — if they go into Rafah, I’m not supplying the weapons that have been used historically to deal with Rafah, to deal with the cities — that deal with that problem."
When NBC News’ Gabe Gutierrez asked how Israeli tanks appearing near central Gaza did not represent a full-scale ground operation, Kirby replied that Israeli officials maintained their tanks were moving along the Philadelphi Corridor, a strategic strip along the Egypt-Gaza border, and “not in the town proper.”
“That’s what the Israelis have said,” Kirby responded. “We’re going based on what the Israelis are telling us and what they’re saying publicly and what we’re able to discern, as best we can.”
Kirby's comments came just days after an Israeli airstrike ignited a fire that devastated a tent camp in Rafah's Tal al-Sultan neighborhood, killing at least 45 people, including children, according to local health officials.
Hala Rharrit, a U.S. diplomat and veteran foreign service officer who resigned from the State Department last month in protest over Washington’s policy on Israel’s war in Gaza, criticized the Biden administration for what she perceived as an attempt to “wiggle their way out of this latest shift” regarding the definition of a “red line.”
“The president’s declaration that population centers are a ‘red line’ is intended to prevent mass civilian casualties,” she told NBC News in a phone interview on Wednesday. “Whether the destruction is caused by tanks or bombs from the air, are we really trying to mince words?”
The attack on the tent camp has intensified international pressure after the United Nations’ top court ordered Israel to halt its offensive in Rafah. The U.N. Security Council could vote as early as Wednesday on a draft resolution circulated by Algeria, demanding Israel immediately stop its offensive and calling for a cease-fire in Gaza, according to The Associated Press.
An Israeli official told NBC News that Israel submitted a new cease-fire proposal to Qatari, Egyptian, and American mediators on Monday. The proposal offered a “sustainable calm” but not a complete end to the war, as demanded by Hamas.
Basem Naim, a senior Hamas official, told NBC News on Tuesday that Hamas had yet to receive any proposal from the mediators.
In a briefing on Tuesday, Israel Defense Forces spokesman Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari said Israel was still investigating the Rafah strike, including what caused the fire that led to the tragic loss of life.
He stated that the IDF fired two 17-kilogram (37.5-pound) warheads targeting two senior Hamas militants, but somehow a fire was ignited, which was "unexpected and unintended."
He suggested that weapons stored in the targeted area might have ignited the fire but noted this was an "assumption" at this point. An Israeli official and a U.S. official separately told NBC News a fuel tank might have been struck, causing the blaze.
The attack on the tent camp has intensified international pressure after the United Nations’ top court ordered Israel to halt its offensive in Rafah. The U.N. Security Council could vote as early as Wednesday on a draft resolution circulated by Algeria, demanding Israel immediately stop its offensive and calling for a cease-fire in Gaza, according to The Associated Press.
An Israeli official told NBC News that submitted a new cease-fire proposal to Qatari, Egyptian, and American mediators on Monday, The proposal offered a “sustainable calm” but not a complete end to the war, as demanded by Hamas.
Basem Naim, a senior Hamas official, told NBC News on Tuesday that Hamas had yet to receive any proposal from the mediators.
In a briefing on Tuesday, Israel Defense Forces spokesman Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari said Israel was still investigating the Rafah strike, including what caused the fire that led to the tragic loss of life.
He stated that the IDF fired two 17-kilogram (37.5-pound) warheads targeting two senior Hamas militants, but somehow a fire was ignited, which was "unexpected and unintended."
He suggested that weapons stored in the targeted area might have ignited the fire but noted this was an "assumption" at this point. An Israeli official and a U.S. official separately told NBC News a fuel tank might have been struck, causing the blaze.
During Tuesday’s White House briefing, when asked how many “charred corpses” President Biden needed to see before changing policy, Kirby expressed strong disapproval, saying, “We don’t want to see a single more innocent life taken.”
The IDF has been conducting a monthslong ground offensive in Gaza, resulting in over 36,000 deaths, according to the Gaza Health Ministry.
Israel launched the offensive in response to Hamas’ October 7 terror attacks, which killed approximately 1,200 people and resulted in about 250 hostages, according to Israeli officials. Around 125 hostages are believed to remain in Gaza, with at least a third presumed dead.
On Wednesday, National Security Adviser Tzachi Hanegbi stated on Israeli radio that "we still expect another seven months of fighting this year to deepen the achievement and accomplish what we define as the destruction of Hamas's governmental and military capabilities, without setting a stopwatch for ourselves."
Biden’s warning regarding the U.S. “red line” echoes former President Barack Obama’s use of the phrase in August 2012, when he warned against the use of chemical weapons in the Syrian civil war. Critics accused Obama of failing to act when that boundary was crossed, with political opponent John McCain remarking that the Obama administration’s red line appeared to be “written in disappearing ink.”
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