Apparently cleared of the Iran factor after Thursday night’s Israeli attack, plans for a ground military incursion into Rafah, in the southern tip of the Gaza Strip, remain, as do contacts between the Israeli government and the American, still dissatisfied with some aspects of the Israeli plan.
No date has been announced for the irruption of troops in Rafah, but the Tsahal (Israeli army) is concentrating soldiers, armored vehicles and artillery in the area, and according to Egyptian sources cited by the Qatari portal Al-Arabi al-Jadid, the preparations have increased in pace since Monday afternoon. The same Egyptian sources revealed the “full availability and readiness of [Egyptian] agencies and forces present in North Sinai and along the 14-kilometer border strip with Gaza, as part of a plan to deal with the “scenario of the repeated Israeli announcement of an invasion of the city of Rafah”. Egyptian anxiety is evident in the face of the Israeli plan, which would consist of dividing Rafah “into numbered grids, so that one square after another would be attacked, which would encourage those there to move away from it, especially towards Khan Iunis and Al-Mawasi”.
This version coincides with the offer by a US official on the Axios portal. The plan presented by the Israelis in Washington would consist of a gradual and slow operation in specific neighborhoods of Rafah, which would be evacuated in time, instead of a comprehensive invasion of the entire city.
In any case, the Biden Administration was not convinced of these plans yesterday, according to the Secretary of State, Antony Blinken, who pointed out in the framework of the G-7 meeting in Capri: “We believe that the objectives of “Israel can be achieved without the Rafah offensive”.
These targets are, officially, four Hamas brigades in Rafah, a city that has multiplied its inhabitants with hundreds of thousands of refugees in recent months. One and a half million Gazans are concentrated there today in extremely precarious conditions and subjected to constant aerial bombardments, which between Wednesday and Thursday cost the lives of dozens of people.
The Biden Administration does not want to risk an even more Dantesque scenario than the one Gaza presents today, with almost 34,000 dead. In this regard, the presidential envoy for humanitarian affairs, said that “displacing these already displaced in their current state of hunger and lack of basic services without taking the appropriate measures to provide them with adequate shelter, medical care , water, food and everything they need right now in Rafah and they can’t get…, if you move them again, we think the circumstances will be disastrous.”
In recent weeks, senior US and Israeli officials have held meetings, the latest on Thursday, hours before the Israeli attack on Iran. Regarding this issue, Antony Blinken added yesterday that high-level talks are continuing. However, a new appointment has not been announced and the Israeli side did not issue a statement.
The White House said on Thursday that Israel had agreed to take the American point of view into account and continue discussions. However, in a video broadcast by the Israeli state channel Kan, the commander of the 32nd battalion of the Nahal Brigade can be seen saying in a harangue to his soldiers: “Let’s go to Rafah.”
