The Biden administration is working to prevent Israel from launching a full-scale invasion of Rafah, the only city in Gaza that has not yet been attacked by the Israeli military, and the location that thousands of Gazan noncombatants have taken refuge.
A report from the Washington Post claims that the U.S. has offered to give Israel sensitive information about Hamas’ leadership and other supplies, on the condition that they agree to scale back the planned invasion.
The reported intelligence would allow israel to pinpoint the locations of several major Hamas leaders hidden in tunnels beneath the city, allowing for a more precise campaign that could avoid unnecessary casualties, which have plagued the conflict in Gaza.
Additionally, the U.S. is offering to provide thousands of shelters that would allow Israel to build temporary shelters and create delivery systems for food, medicine and water that would give the thousands of refugees in and around the city livable conditions.
This comes after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu promised to invade Rafah with “extreme force,” which would likely damage Israel’s reputation even further with the global community. Biden, meanwhile, is balancing support for America’s longtime ally, while simultaneously dealing with domestic pressure to pull support from Israel due to their conduct in the current conflict.
Israel has argued that an invasion of Rafah is necessary to finish off the final resistance from Hamas, but there are concerns that attacking the city will lead to thousands of civilian casualties. The U.S. has therefore pushed to evacuate civilians from the city before launching any attack.
“We have serious concerns about how Israel has prosecuted this campaign, and that could all come to a head in Rafah,” a senior administration official told the Washington Post.
Additionally, the U.S. has worked with Egypt to find any tunnels between Rafah and Egypt and destroy them, the post reported, citing officials. Hamas has used those tunnels primarily to replenish its supplies.
According to an assessment from the Biden administration, Hamas would like nothing more than an extended and bloody conflict in Rafah. Reportedly, they hope that Israel would become increasingly distanced from the rest of the international community, which has lost much of its patience given the number of civilian casualties.
Casualties are reported to be as high as 35,000, according to the Gaza health ministry, as reported by USA Today.
The Liberal Washington Post’s report notes that private discussions between officials have indicated that Israel will not launch a full-scale invasion of Rafah until approximately 800,000 civilians are evacuated from the city. As of Sunday, roughly 300,000 people had been evacuated, according to the UN.
Fox News reported that a U.S. official stated that the U.S. was not holding back information on the locations of Hamas leaders, saying that the U.S. has been aiding in the effort to find the locations of the terrorist group’s leadership.
The post US Offers Intel About Hamas Leadership To Israel In Exchange For Scaled-Back Invasion Of Rafah appeared first on Resist the Mainstream.
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Author: John Symank
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