U.S. officers mentioned on Tuesday that the Israeli strike that killed dozens of Palestinians in southern Gaza was a tragedy however that it didn’t violate President Biden’s crimson line for withholding weapons shipments to Israel.
The bloodshed got here after Mr. Biden warned earlier this month that the USA would block sure arms transfers if Israel focused closely populated areas in Rafah — a warning that has been examined usually because the conflict has floor on.
John F. Kirby, a White Home spokesman, mentioned the deaths had been “devastating” however that the size of the assault was not sufficient to vary U.S. coverage. “We don’t need to see a serious floor operation,” Mr. Kirby informed reporters. “We haven’t seen that.”
Israeli tanks had been on the outskirts of town “to attempt to put stress on Hamas,” Mr. Kirby mentioned. He additionally provided a measure of specificity about Mr. Biden’s warning to Israel, which critics have mentioned was too imprecise.
“Now we have not seen them go in with giant models and huge numbers of troops in columns and formations in some form of coordinated maneuver towards a number of targets on the bottom,” Mr. Kirby mentioned. “Every little thing that we are able to see tells us that they aren’t transferring in in a serious floor operation in inhabitants facilities within the metropolis of Rafah.”
Mr. Biden has confronted stress from advocates and members of his personal get together to make use of his energy to curtail arms to Israel as a strategy to affect its conduct within the conflict. America is by far the largest provider of weapons to Israel, which raises questions on American duty because the demise toll mounts.
The strike in Rafah on Sunday ignited a lethal fireplace and killed not less than 45 folks, together with youngsters, and wounded 249, in response to the Gazan well being ministry. It has prompted worldwide outrage, together with from leaders within the European Union, the United Nations, Egypt and China.
Vice President Kamala Harris, requested about Rafah on Tuesday, mentioned “the phrase tragic doesn’t even start to explain” the deaths. She didn’t reply a follow-up query about whether or not the strike crossed a crimson line for Mr. Biden.
Nonetheless, the Israeli navy’s conduct was much like what Mr. Biden mentioned he wouldn’t tolerate when he warned, in an interview on CNN earlier this month, that the USA wouldn’t provide Israel with weapons to assault Rafah.
“I’ve made it clear to Bibi and the conflict cupboard they’re not going to get our assist if, in actual fact, they’re going into these inhabitants facilities,” Mr. Biden mentioned within the interview.
In that interview, Mr. Biden emphasised that the USA would nonetheless guarantee Israel’s safety, citing the Iron Dome missile protection system and his assist for Israel’s “capacity to reply to assaults.” However he mentioned he would block the supply of weapons that may very well be fired into densely populated areas of Rafah.
The realm that was hit on Sunday was not included in evacuation orders that Israel issued in early Might, and a few Palestinians sheltering within the camp mentioned that they had believed it was a protected zone.
The Israeli navy mentioned that the goal of Sunday’s strike was a Hamas compound, and that “exact munitions” had been used to focus on a commander and one other senior official there. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu mentioned it was a “tragic accident” that civilians had been killed.
Round a million folks have fled Rafah throughout Israel’s assault on town, in response to the United Nations, together with many within the western a part of town and within the space across the camp that was struck on Sunday.
A State Division spokesman, Matthew Miller, mentioned the USA was watching Israel’s investigation of the incident carefully.
“Israel has mentioned that it may need been that there was a Hamas ammo dump close to the realm the place they took the strike,” Mr. Miller mentioned. “It’s an important factual query that must be answered.”
The Israeli navy’s spokesman, Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari, informed a information convention that Israeli jets had fired the “smallest munitions” that they might use and added that “our munitions alone couldn’t have ignited a fireplace of this dimension.”
Israel invaded Gaza after the Hamas-led assaults of Oct. 7 killed some 1,200 folks in Israel. Israel’s retaliatory offensive has killed greater than 36,000 folks, a lot of them girls and kids, in response to well being officers in Gaza.
World leaders, together with Mr. Biden, have warned of the risks of a serious navy operation in Rafah with no correct plan for evacuating the displaced Gazans taking refuge there.
Mr. Miller was in a position to present little element on tons of of 1000’s of people that have fled Rafah in current weeks.
“A few of them have gone again to Khan Younis,” he mentioned. “A few of them have pushed into western Rafah. A few of them have gone to Mawasi. I don’t assume there’s anybody reply.” Mr. Miller mentioned he didn’t know if Israel was aiding these folks.
Khaled Elgindy, a senior fellow on the Center East Institute and an adviser to Palestinian leaders throughout previous peace negotiations, mentioned the White Home was benefiting from its ambiguous descriptions on Mr. Biden’s “crimson line” for Israel’s navy operation in Rafah.
“It’s positively blurry and by design,” Mr. Elgindy mentioned. “They don’t need to be pinned down. They don’t need to pin themselves down by figuring out an actual level or line that will get throughout as a result of Israel will completely cross that line. We’ve seen that over and over.”
Erica L. Inexperienced contributed reporting from Washington, and Michael Crowley from New York.
