According to the United States, an Israeli attack would cause destruction that is unacceptable.
11:06•Updated 11:11
The Israeli administration has told the United States this week of its plans to evacuate Palestinian civilians from the border town of Rafah ahead of a possible attack on Hamas fighters.
The news agency AP was told about the exchange of information by anonymous American official sources who have followed the discussions between the two countries.
However, according to them, the plans presented by Israel have not changed the view of the United States. President Joe Biden the administration believes that a ground attack on the border town of Rafah in southern Gaza would require too many civilian casualties.
The US Secretary of State who spoke in Arizona on Friday Antony Blinken said that no plan has been presented to the United States that would adequately protect Palestinian civilians.
– Since there is no plan, we cannot support the military operation in Rafah. It would cause destruction that is unacceptable, Blinken estimates.
Negotiations continue
An estimated 1.5 million Palestinians are currently packed into Rafah and its surrounding areas. People have fled to southern Gaza because of the war between Israel and Hamas.
The conflict began in October when Hamas attacked Israel, killing 1,200 people and taking around 250 hostages.
On Friday, a spokesman for the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs Jens Laerke estimated that hundreds of thousands of people would be “at immediate risk of death” if Israel attacked Rafah.
The situation is also difficult in the northern part of Gaza. Director of the UN World Food Programme Cindy McCain said on Friday in an interview with the American NBC TV channel that there is already a famine in the region.
– A real famine has developed in the North. Now it is slowly moving further south, McCain commented.
At the same time, negotiations between Israel and Hamas on a possible ceasefire continue in the Egyptian capital, Cairo.
In these negotiations, the idea has been that Israel would lay down its weapons and release some of the previously captured Hamas fighters in exchange for the freed hostages.
In these negotiations, the United States has supported Israel.
– Hamas is the only thing preventing a ceasefire in Gaza, US Secretary of State Blinken repeated on Friday.
Sources: AP, Reuters