The American newspaper Politico revealed, on Wednesday, that the United States informed Israel that it supports its military operation in Rafah if the latter avoids a large-scale invasion that might weaken global support for it.

According to the American newspaper, senior American officials told their Israeli counterparts that the Biden administration will support Israel in pursuing high-value Hamas targets in and below Rafah as long as Israel avoids a large-scale operation.

The newspaper quoted four senior American officials as saying that the Biden administration supports a plan closer to counter-terrorism operations than to a comprehensive war in Rafah, because that would reduce civilian casualties.

The newspaper, citing officials, indicated that some key members of Biden's team doubt that Israel is planning to carry out a major military operation in Rafah soon.

According to an official in the US Department of Defense, quoted by the newspaper, the operation in Rafah requires carrying out some repositioning of forces, adding that this did not happen, which indicates that the operation in Rafah is not imminent.

The Israeli occupation army said, earlier on Wednesday, that it intends to transfer a large portion of the 1.4 million displaced Palestinians living in the town of Rafah in the far south of the Gaza Strip to “humanitarian islands” in the center of the Strip, before it begins the expected attack on the region.

The fate of the Palestinians in Rafah has become a source of great concern for Israel's allies, including the United States and humanitarian organizations, which believe that an attack on the area crowded with displaced people would be a disaster.

In addition, the area is also the main entry point for much-needed aid in Gaza.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that the attack on Rafah is crucial to achieving Israel's declared goal of destroying Hamas.

Representatives from the US Democratic Party had called on the administration of US President Joe Biden to link military support to Israel to the latter’s facilitation of the arrival of aid to the Gaza Strip, in the wake of a major controversy over the Israeli threat to launch an operation in Rafah.

However, such a call faces strong opposition from other members of the same ruling party, who expressed their refusal to harm the military support provided to the Israeli occupation, which contributed decisively to the war of extermination that killed and wounded more than 110,000 Palestinians in Gaza, 70% of whom are women and children.