The US has assessed that Israel has amassed enough troops on the edge of Gaza’s southernmost city of Rafah to launch a full-scale incursion in the coming days, but senior American officials are unsure if a decision to carry out the offensive has been made, two senior administration officials told CNN.
The White House believes an Israeli ground offensive in Rafah would be a mistake and is “urgently” working toward a ceasefire, National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan said Monday.
The Biden administration is urging Israel to connect their military operations to a “clear” end game for the war, Sullivan told reporters. And, a top State Department official said the US and Israel are “struggling over what the theory of victory is” for Israel in Gaza, and that the US does not believe that the kind of total victory Israel says it is fighting for against Hamas is “likely or possible.”
Here are the major developments:
Unclear military strategy: The Israeli military has renewed its fighting in northern Gaza where it previously claimed to have dismantled Hamas’ command structure. But it now says the Palestinian militant group is trying to “reassemble” in the area, raising doubts about whether Israel’s goal to eradicate the group in the enclave is realistic and renewing questions about its long-term military strategy.
Hamas treated in Turkey: Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said that “more than 1,000 Hamas members are currently under treatment” in Turkish hospitals. He said he does not see Hamas as a “terrorist organization” but as a “resistance organization.”
Death toll unchanged: The United Nations has clarified the war’s death toll in Gaza, tallied by the enclave’s Health Ministry, remains unchanged at over 35,000, after its casualties report caused confusion.
Aid ransacked: Israeli activists opposed to helping Palestinians in Gaza intercepted and ransacked an aid shipment. Video from a checkpoint in the occupied West Bank shows at least two trucks ransacked. Other footage showed activists blocking the path of the trucks, throwing packages on the ground and stomping on boxes. It’s unclear whether the aid was coming from Jordan or the Palestinian Authority.
United Nations staffer killed and wounded: At least one UN aid worker was killed and another wounded after a vehicle marked as belonging to the agency was attacked in Rafah, according to a UN secretary-general spokesperson, who did not assign blame to either Israel or Hamas for the attack.
