Catastrophe Threatening Rafah... and the United States: We Have Seen No Evidence

The United States warned on Thursday that any Israeli military operation in Rafah, which has become a refuge for more than a million people, without planning or with little thought, would be a "catastrophe." Deputy State Department spokesman Vedant Patel told reporters, "We will not support doing something like this without serious and reliable planning because it involves more than a million people seeking shelter there, and also without considering the impacts on humanitarian aid and the safe departure of foreigners." Patel noted that the United States has seen no evidence that Israel has laid out serious plans for such an operation, despite U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken meeting with the Israeli war government on Wednesday. The White House announced that "Blinken made clear U.S. concerns about operations in Rafah," adding, "We have not seen any plans suggesting that Israel will launch major military operations in Rafah." The White House emphasized that it would not support any Israeli plans for large-scale military operations in Rafah. Israeli forces bombarded areas in the border city in southern Gaza on Thursday. In another context, White House spokesman John Kirby stated that U.S. President Joe Biden and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz will discuss Houthi attacks on ships in the Red Sea, the Russian invasion of Ukraine, and the situation in the Middle East when they meet tomorrow, Friday, in Washington.