Israel ignored U.S. warnings and stepped up its attacks on Gazarafa.
The United States warned Israel on Thursday it risked a “catastrophe” if it sent troops into Gaza’s southernmost city of Rafah, where more than a million Palestinians have sought asylum.
Earlier, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he had ordered troops to “prepare operations” in Rafah, the last major town in the Gaza Strip that Israeli ground forces have yet to enter.
Israeli armed forces stepped up airstrikes in the city on Thursday as hundreds of thousands of displaced civilians from other parts of Gaza now holed up in tents with blown-up buildings amid growing fears of fighting on the ground.
U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres warned that a military advance on Rafah “will exponentially exacerbate a situation that is already a humanitarian nightmare.”
Fierce fighting continues despite international efforts to secure a ceasefire after Hamas’ attack on southern Israel on October 7 sparked the bloodiest Gaza war in history.
U.S. State Department deputy spokesman Vidant Patel said Washington “has not seen evidence of any serious planning” for a ground operation in Rafah.
Noting that Rafah is also an important entry point for humanitarian aid destined for Gaza, Patel said such attacks “we will not support.”
“To carry out such an operation immediately without planning and thought … would be a disaster.”
Secretary of State Antony Blinken expressed Washington’s concerns directly to Netanyahu during talks in Jerusalem on Wednesday, Patel said.
The top U.S. diplomat has publicly warned that “any Israeli military operation needs to put civilians first.”
Blinken left Israel without securing a pause in fighting, ending his fifth crisis trip to the Middle East since the war began.
An AFP reporter reported that Israel carried out at least seven air strikes on the Rafah area overnight, scaring civilians into crowding into shelters and temporary camps.
“These attacks prove that Rafah is not safe,” said resident Umm Hassan, 48, whose home was damaged when the nearby house of the local police chief was shelled.
“Look at the housing units they just blew up,” he said. “We are people of faith. We are not worried about Netanyahu’s threat to invade Rafah. Life is one and God is one.”
Air strikes and ground fighting continue in Hamas-ruled areas as the war enters its fifth month, with the health ministry saying another 130 people had died in 24 hours.
– Cairo Armistice Negotiations –
Blinken ended his fifth trip to the region, where U.S. forces are involved in related conflicts from Iraq to Yemen.
Amid ceasefire talks, Blinken insisted he still believed there was “room for a deal” to stop the fighting and bring the hostages home.
Egypt will hold new talks with Qatari and Hamas negotiators in hopes of achieving “calm” in Gaza and a prisoner and hostage exchange, officials said.
The Israeli prime minister rejected what he called Hamas’s “bizarre demands” during the talks.
Blinken told reporters that Hamas’s counterproposal at least provided an opportunity “to engage in negotiations.”
“While there are some clear impossibilities in Hamas’s response, we do believe it creates space for an agreement to be reached and we will work tirelessly until an agreement is reached,” he said.
Hamas said a delegation led by Khalil Haya, a key member of the organization’s political bureau, was heading to Cairo.
A Palestinian official in Gaza close to the Hamas group later told AFP: “We expect the negotiations to be very complex and difficult.
“But Hamas is open to discussions and the movement is eager to reach a ceasefire,” the official added, speaking on condition of anonymity.
-‘War crimes’ charges-
Hamas launched an unprecedented attack on Israel on October 7, killing about 1,160 people, mostly civilians, according to AFP statistics based on official Israeli data.
Israel has vowed to eliminate Hamas and launched airstrikes and ground offensives that killed at least 27,840 people, mostly women and children, according to Gaza’s health ministry.
Hamas also held approximately 250 hostages. Israel says 132 people remain in Gaza, 29 of whom are believed to be dead.
Months of bombing and siege have deepened the humanitarian crisis, especially in southern Gaza.
“Their living conditions are appalling,” said UN humanitarian chief Martin Griffiths. “They lack the basic necessities for survival and are plagued by hunger, disease and death.”
UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk accused Israel of committing “war crimes” after it reportedly destroyed buildings to create a “buffer zone” along the border within Gaza.
He said in a statement that Israel’s “large-scale destruction of property was not necessary for military purposes, but was carried out illegally and wantonly. It is a serious violation of the Fourth Geneva Convention and constitutes a war crime.”
The war in Gaza has triggered a surge in violence in the region by Iran-backed groups aligned with Hamas, drawing retaliatory attacks from Israel, the United States and their allies.
A U.S. airstrike in Iraq on Wednesday killed a senior commander of a pro-Iran armed group that U.S. Central Command said was “responsible for directly planning and participating in attacks on U.S. forces.”
The attack follows the killing of three U.S. troops in neighboring Jordan and follows a wave of attacks by Washington last week on Iran-linked targets in Iraq and Syria.
The Israeli military confirmed it was targeting a commander from the Iran-backed militant group Hezbollah, which it believed had recently fired rockets into Israel from southern Lebanon.
In other diplomatic efforts to end the war, Jordan’s King Abdullah II traveled to the United States, Canada, France and Germany, the palace said.
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