Israel claims Rafah is the last bastion for the Hamas militants
\n TEL AVIV
\nUS Secretary of State Antony Blinken warned Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Friday that Israel risked further global isolation if it attacks the Palestinian city of Rafah in the Gaza Strip.
\nBlinken met one-on-one with Netanyahu during a peace mission to the Middle East at a time of strain in relations over Israel\u2019s assault in Hamas-ruled Gaza, which has killed 32,000 Palestinians, with many more feared dead under the rubble, Gaza health authorities say.
\n\u201cWe share Israel\u2019s goal of defeating Hamas… though, a major military ground operation in Rafah is not the way to do it,\u201d Blinken told reporters in Tel Aviv.
\n\u201cIt risks killing more civilians, it risks wreaking greater havoc with the provision of humanitarian assistance, it risks further isolating Israel around the world and jeopardizing its long-term security and standing,\u201d Blinken added.
\nNetanyahu said earlier that Israel would go it alone if Washington remained opposed to plans to push into Rafah against the territory\u2019s southern border fence, where more than a million Gazans have taken refuge in makeshift shelters.
\nThe Israeli leader said he told Blinken that he appreciated US support in its fight against Hamas, the Palestinian militant group, and that Israel recognizes it needs to protect civilians.
\n\u201cI also said that we have no way to defeat Hamas without going into Rafah and eliminating the rest of the battalions there. And I told him that I hope we will do it with the support of the US, but if we have to \u2014 we will do it alone,\u201d he said in a video statement to reporters.
\nWhile Israel has talked about destroying Hamas entirely in the past, it is unclear how they would be able to do so and experts doubt that is even possible.
\nIsrael claims Rafah is the last bastion for Hamas militants, and that it has a plan to evacuate civilians before an attack, though it has not shared one publicly nor with close ally Washington.
\nWashington says a ground assault would be a mistake and cause too much harm to those displaced there.
\nSenior Israeli and US officials were scheduled to meet in Washington next week, when the United States will present to the Israelis alternative ways to hunt down Hamas without resorting to a full-on assault in Rafah.
\n\u201cWe believe a major ground offensive is a mistake\u201d and would be a \u201cdisaster,\u201d White House spokesperson John Kirby told a briefing.
\nThe United States, Israel\u2019s closest ally, provides billions of dollars a year in military aid and regularly uses its diplomatic clout to protect Israeli interests.
\nIn the latest diplomatic duel at the UN Security Council, Russia and China vetoed a US-proposed resolution calling for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza and an Israel-Hamas hostage deal, saying it effectively green lights a Rafah invasion.
\nThe text reflected a toughening of Washington\u2019s stance toward Israel \u2014 Washington had earlier in the war been averse to the word \u201cceasefire\u201d \u2014 but Moscow and Beijing said it would still not do enough to restrain Israel.
\nThey support an alternative text that Washington says is not strong enough in pushing Hamas toward ongoing diplomacy. Hamas last week released its own ceasefire and hostage-prisoner exchange proposal. France was also said to be working on an alternative resolution. The Security Council was due to vote again on Saturday.
\nIn a statement, Hamas said it appreciated the veto by Russia and China, \u201cwho rejected the American project biased toward aggression against our people.\u201d
\nIn Gaza, Israel claimed on Friday to have killed or captured hundreds of Hamas fighters in a five-day operation at the Al Shifa hospital complex, one of the only medical facilities even partially functioning in the north. Hamas and medical staff deny fighters were present there.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Israel claims Rafah is the last bastion for the Hamas militants TEL AVIV US Secretary of State Antony Blinken warned Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Friday that Israel risked further global isolation if it attacks the Palestinian city of Rafah in the Gaza Strip. Blinken met one-on-one with Netanyahu during a peace mission to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":395883,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-395874","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world"},"yoast_head":"\n