US may back limited IDF op in Rafah to hit ‘high-value’ Hamas targets: Report

US officials have communicated to Israeli counterparts that the Biden administration would endorse a targeted operation in Rafah, the southernmost city in Gaza, with a focus on specific “high-value” Hamas targets within and beneath the city, according to a report, citing four US officials.

According to a Politico report, top administration officials in private meetings have told the Israelis that the US would back a strategy for “counterterrorism operations” in Rafah rather than full-scale war, like elsewhere in Gaza.

The US has previously opposed Israeli plans for an offensive in Rafah, seen as Hamas’s final stronghold and housing its last four battalions. The concern was primarily for the safety of over a million displaced Gazans seeking refuge in Rafah from conflicts in other parts of the Palestinian enclave. Other nations have also cautioned against an invasion of Rafah.

An Israeli official told Politico that some form of offensive or operation in Gaza appears inevitable.

“At the end of the day, we cannot win this war without defeating Hamas’ battalions in Rafah,” Politico quoted the official as saying.

According to a Times of Israel report, Defence Minister Yoav Gallant has hinted that Israel will soon launch a ground operation in Rafah while on a visit to Gaza City.

“There is no safe place in Gaza for terrorists…Those who think that we are delaying will soon see that we will reach everyone,” he was quoted as saying.

“We will bring to justice anyone who was involved in October 7 – either we will eliminate them or bring them to trial in Israel. There is no safe place, not here, not outside of Gaza, not anywhere across the Middle East – we will bring everyone to their place,” added the defence minister.

A Defence Department official informed Politico that the United States has not detected any signs indicating an imminent offensive on Rafah.

“They’d have to do some repositioning of forces, and that has not happened,” the report quoted the official as saying. “It’s not imminent.”

“Israel is going to do what Israel decides to do. It’s kind of like trying to predict the weather,” the official further added. “But has the message sent been heard? Yes.”