The American newspaper "Washington Post" reported today, Monday, quoting four sources familiar with the offers the United States is making to Israel to deter a comprehensive operation in Rafah, that Washington has offered "valuable assistance" to Tel Aviv, including "sensitive intelligence to help the Israeli army locate Hamas leaders." According to the newspaper, American officials also offered "help in providing thousands of shelters and assistance in building systems to deliver food, water, and medicine, so that displaced Palestinians from Rafah can have a livable space."
U.S. President Joe Biden and senior aides have been making such offers over the past few weeks, hoping to convince Israel to carry out a limited operation in Rafah and to refrain from launching a large-scale attack. The United States has provided Israel with intelligence throughout the seven-month war.
Biden's senior aides are now trying to convince Israeli officials that they can destroy the remaining Hamas brigades in Rafah with more strikes that the United States can assist with, by pinpointing the locations of senior leaders of the movement.
U.S. administration officials, including experts from the U.S. Agency for International Development, have informed Israel that it would take several months for the safe transfer of hundreds of thousands of Palestinians currently living in dire conditions in Rafah. Biden's aides emphasize to their Israeli counterparts that "Palestinians cannot simply be relocated to barren or bombarded areas in Gaza, but Israel must provide basic infrastructure, including shelter, food, water, medicine, and other necessities."
Experts from the U.S. government are advising their Israeli counterparts in great detail on how to develop and implement such a humanitarian plan, down to the number of tents and the amount of water needed for specific areas, according to several people familiar with the matter.
