The American news website Axios quoted 4 Israeli and American sources as saying that a remote meeting is expected to be held between the United States and Israel today, Monday, regarding the supposed military operation in Rafah.

The website stated that the meeting will discuss alternative proposals by the administration of US President Joe Biden to the Israeli military invasion of the city of Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip.

Israeli officials interpreted resorting to an online meeting as a way for Netanyahu to save face after preventing a delegation from heading to Washington for the same reason.

Another Israeli official spoke of a direct meeting between the two delegations by next week.

Both the White House and the Israeli Prime Minister's Office refused to comment on what was reported by Axios.

The meeting - which was supposed to be held last week - became a contentious issue between Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and US President Joe Biden, after the United States last week refrained from using its veto against the United Nations Security Council resolution calling for a ceasefire in Gaza and the release of all hostages. Netanyahu announced that he canceled the visit of an Israeli delegation to Washington to discuss the planned attack on Rafah in protest against the American position.

Netanyahu's office said in a statement, "The United States did not veto today the new text that calls for a ceasefire without the condition of releasing the kidnapped."

The statement added that this is "a clear retreat from the firm American position in the Security Council since the beginning of the war," which "gives Hamas hope that international pressure will allow it to obtain a ceasefire without releasing our kidnappers."

The United States is the main supporter of Israel in its war on Gaza, politically and militarily, as it used its veto power in the UN Security Council several times to block resolutions calling for a ceasefire, and also supplied the Israeli army with thousands of tons of weapons and ammunition.

But Washington called on Tel Aviv to refrain from invading Rafah until a plan is developed to evacuate civilians who were displaced to the city from various parts of the Gaza Strip to escape the war, and their number is estimated at about 1.4 million.