The White House warned on Tuesday against an Israeli military operation in Gaza, claiming it would be a 'disaster.'
National Security spokesperson John Kirby said Israel needed to take into account the safety of Palestinian refugees taking residence in the city.
The US wants Israel to succeed in destroying Hamas, he said, but it also must ensure the protection of civilians as it does so, including in Rafah.
“We understand that there are Hamas units and leaders who have migrated down to Rafah as a result of the fighting in Khan Yunis” and that Hamas fighters were using civilians as human shields.
Due to this situation, Israel must present a credible plan to protect these civilians, Kirby said, as he stressed that this was a necessary step to secure US support for that operation.
“We would not support an operation that put those people at greater deliberate and greater risks,” Kirby said.
“Our principal concern here is that, under the current circumstances, without properly accounting for the safety and security of those refugees, we continue to believe that an operation in Rafah would be a disaster,” Kirby added.
Potential operations in Rafah have been the source of widespread international condemnation. Recently, 26 out of 27 countries in the EU voted against IDF operations in Rafah.
Why might the IDF be intent on operations in Rafah?
The IDF recently rescued two hostages, kidnapped on October 7 by Hamas terrorists, from captivity in Rafah.
Fernando Marman and Luis Norbeto Har had been rescued from the second floor of a building in Rafah, heavily guarded by Hamas terrorists.
Hamas has also confirmed that they have military capabilities in the location.
The Deputy Chairman of Hamas in Gaza, Khalil al-Hayya, acknowledged in an interview with Al Jazeera that Hamas still had capabilities in Rafah, according to a recap of the interview posted to the Hamas Telegram channel. Jerusalem Post Staff contributed to this report.