US top diplomat holds talks in Israel as Netanyahu vows Rafah invasion
Al Jazeera
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken warned the Israeli leader that a Rafah ground assault risks ‘further isolating’ Israel.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has told the United States’s top diplomat that Israel is determined to send troops into the southern Gaza city of Rafah, where some 1.5 million Palestinians are sheltering, and will do so without US backing if necessary.
Following a meeting with visiting US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Friday, Netanyahu said he told the US official there was no other way to defeat Hamas.
“I told him that I hope we will do it with the support of the US, but if we have to – we will do it alone,” he said in a statement.
However, Blinken said a major military ground operation into Rafah “is not the way” to defeat Hamas and would risk “further isolating” Israel.
Speaking as he departed Israel, Blinken told reporters he had “candid conversations”, referring to meetings with Netanyahu and the war cabinet.
