US will pitch Gaza-Egypt border security plan in lieu of Rafah offensive

The U.S. will advise Israel to secure the Gaza-Egypt border as part of a series of alternatives to an all-out invasion of Rafah, two U.S. officials told POLITICO.

That proposal, first reported by The Times of Israel, would see Israeli forces working to curb Hamas militants’ ability to smuggle weapons into Rafah, choking off their capacity to wage further war against Israel. It’s unclear for how long Israel would stay on the border to monitor and interdict weapons shipments along the eight-mile stretch.

Both U.S. officials, granted anonymity to detail sensitive discussions, said the Gaza-Egypt border suggestion won’t be the only one Biden administration figures make before an Israeli delegation is expected to visit Washington next week. It’ll fold into a suite of options the U.S. will put on the table to avoid a major ground invasion of the southern Gaza city.

“We have many more ideas,” said one of the officials.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has vowed to send Israeli troops into Rafah to target an estimated 3,000 Hamas militants in the city, though no campaign is imminent. The Biden administration, increasingly concerned about the rising civilian death toll in Gaza, has warned Israel against moving forward with an operation that could put more lives in danger.

Preparations for the meeting in Washington show just how far apart the U.S. and Israel are on Rafah. While both sides agree Hamas should be militarily defeated in Gaza, they differ over the need for a large-scale military operation in the city to meet that goal.

“We are determined to complete the elimination of these battalions in Rafah, and there is no way to do this without a ground incursion,” Netanyahu told Knesset members Tuesday, per a news release from his office.

The National Security Council didn’t return a request for comment.

“A major ground operation there would be a mistake,” national security adviser Jake Sullivan told reporters Monday, adding that the U.S. had yet to see a credible plan to protect the more than 1 million Palestinian civilians camped in Rafah, many having fled the war elsewhere in the enclave. Privately, Biden administration officials have told their Israeli counterparts they could accept a smaller, more targeted military operation that would involve striking high-value Hamas targets.

The chasm between U.S. and Israeli views over Rafah led President Joe Biden to hold a call with Netanyahu on Monday, their first in a month. Biden reiterated the American position and requested that Israel send a delegation to lay out their Rafah plans and hear U.S. alternatives to them. As early as next week, trusted Netanyahu confidant Ron Dermer, national security adviser Tzachi Hanegbi and a representative of the Israeli military responsible for coordinating aid into Gaza will be in Washington for the meeting.

It’s unclear who will represent the U.S. side, though White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters Tuesday “it’ll be senior members from the administration across the administration.”

For months, officials in Egypt have lobbied Washington to urge Israel not to move forward with a ground invasion of Rafah. Officials there worry the operation would inevitably push Gazans to flee across the border into Sinai, increasing the chances that Hamas militants make their way into the country.

Israeli officials have also tried to negotiate with Egypt in recent weeks about a plan for Rafah that would potentially allow for a significant uptick in humanitarian aid trucks to move through the border into southern Gaza. Egyptian officials have been hesitant to sign off on any plan that would potentially further destabilize the border and the broader Sinai region.

Erin Banco contributed to this report.