US and Israel meet on Rafah days after Iran’s attack
The U.S. and Israel are holding another tense meeting on a future Rafah operation Thursday, a sign that Iran’s attack isn’t halting negotiations over Israel’s conduct in the war against Hamas.
Both sides are attending a virtual session, a senior Biden administration official and Israeli official told POLITICO, where senior leaders discuss how to target Hamas’ roughly 3,000 fighters in Rafah while protecting the city’s 1.4 million Palestinians. National security adviser Jake Sullivan is expected to lead the conversation for the Biden administration. Sullivan’s Israeli counterpart, Tzachi Hanegbi, is heading his nation’s delegation.
Those attending from the Israeli side also include Minister of Strategic Affairs Ron Dermer as well as representatives from the Israel Defense Forces and Israeli security agencies, said the Israeli official, who like the senior U.S. official was granted anonymity to detail an unannounced meeting before a readout is released.
The initial plan had been to hold the discussion in person in Washington, but Iran’s weekend attack — which featured more than 300 missiles and drones that Israel, the U.S. and other nations shot down — postponed a trip.
During the group’s first virtual meeting on April 1, the U.S. and Israel found themselves far apart on the issue of civilian protection for Rafah. Israel said they could move Palestinians out of the city in four weeks, while the American side such a migration would require four months. Since then, working groups have gotten together to find a compromise between the two positions.
Thursday’s meeting will test if the U.S. and Israel are finding common ground. The meeting “will be a follow up … where they will discuss progress made, among other things,” said the senior administration official. Axios first reported on the meeting.
