US, Israel hold second virtual meeting on Rafah

WASHINGTON — White House officials convened a virtual meeting with Israeli counterparts on Thursday over the Biden administration's concerns about a potential Israeli invasion of Rafah, the area of southern Gaza where 1.4 million civilians are sheltered.

Speaking to reporters aboard Air Force One just before noon on Thursday, National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby confirmed the meeting had begun. "The main purpose really, is to talk about Rafah … and also share our continued concerns over a major ground offensive there," Kirby said.

Officials in Washington have been pressing Israeli leaders not to launch an invasion of the densely populated Palestinian city without first evacuating its civilian inhabitants, most of whom have sought shelter there from other areas of Gaza on orders from the Israeli military. Thursday's virtual meeting was the second held between US and Israeli officials on Rafah this month.

"US participants expressed concerns with various courses of action in Rafah, and Israeli participants agreed to take these concerns into account and to have further follow up discussions between experts, overseen by the SCG [Strategic Consultative Group]. Participants will meet again soon," a White House readout of the virtual meeting read.

The Pentagon's top policy chief Melissa Dalton, Middle East policy director Dan Shapiro and the Joint Staff's vice director for strategy, plans and policy, Maj. Gen. Joseph McGee participated in the call. 

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has vowed to go through with a military operation in Rafah, where Israeli officials say at least four Hamas brigades remain. Hamas' military leader, Yahya Sinwar, is also believed to be in Rafah.

During a prior virtual meeting on April 1, Israeli Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer and national security adviser Tzachi Hanegbi briefed top Biden administration officials including US national security adviser Jake Sullivan on the contours of an Israeli operational plan for Rafah.

US officials reportedly pushed back on the Israeli proposal as insufficient to provide for the needs of Rafah's more than 1 million inhabitants, the majority of whom are in urgent need of food and other humanitarian aid. 

Earlier this month, President Joe Biden warned Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that the White House's policy of blanket support for Israel's war campaign in Gaza could be at stake if the Israeli military does not take concrete and immediate steps to improve the humanitarian situation in the Palestinian enclave.

Local health authorities report that more than 34,000 Palestinians have been killed during the Israeli campaign, which has leveled wide swaths of the Gaza Strip, displaced the vast majority of its population and triggered a famine in the besieged enclave.

The Israeli campaign kicked off after Hamas fighters broke through the Gaza containment wall and rampaged across southern Israel, killing 1,143 people, including more than 760 civilians, and took 247 hostages.

The UN and humanitarian aid groups have widely accused Israel of impeding the flow of humanitarian aid and food into Gaza in potential violation of international law.

This is a developing story and will be updated.