The Washington Post quoted informed sources as saying that the United States has offered Israel valuable assistance if it withdraws from its massive invasion of Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip.

The American newspaper explained that President Joe Biden and his aides offered to provide Israel with intelligence information and supplies to convince it of a limited and targeted operation in Rafah, noting that the American offer of assistance to Israel includes providing sensitive intelligence information to determine the location of leaders of the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) and to find hidden tunnels.

The newspaper said that Washington is working closely with Cairo to find the tunnels that cross the border between Egypt and Gaza in Rafah.

It also said that Washington had offered Israel assistance in building equipped tent cities for Palestinians who were “evacuated” from Rafah, and to help build food, water and medicine delivery systems, so that those being deported from Rafah could obtain a suitable place to live.

The newspaper reported, citing officials, that the Biden administration informed Israel that conditions must be created for the Palestinians who will be deported from Rafah, and that transferring them to barren lands or others subject to bombing is not possible.

US also informed Israelthat the safe transfer of thousands of Palestinians in Rafah would take several months.

The newspaper said that Biden and his senior aides have made such offers over the past few weeks in the hope of persuading Israel to implement a limited and more targeted operation in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip, where about 1.3 million Palestinians are taking shelter after being displaced from other parts of the besieged Strip.

In the same context, the newspaper quoted an American official as saying that an assessment by the Biden administration concluded that Hamas and its leader in Gaza, Yahya Sinwar, would welcome a wide and extended battle in Rafah.

Egyptian refusal

On the other hand, Egyptian media reported on Saturday that Egypt had refused to coordinate with Israel regarding the Rafah border crossing due to the Israeli escalation, indicating that it had informed all concerned parties that Israel bears responsibility for the deterioration of the situation in Gaza.

This came according to what was reported by the Cairo News Channel (privately) from a high-level source, whose name was not mentioned, coinciding with an Israeli military escalation and a large displacement movement in the Gaza Strip.

According to the same source, Egypt refused to coordinate with Israel regarding the Rafah crossing due to the unacceptable Israeli escalation.

The same source stated - according to the Egyptian channel - that Egypt held Israel responsible for the deterioration of the situation in the Gaza Strip in front of all parties, and that it had done its part to reach a truce agreement, and assumed its historical responsibility towards the Palestinian people.

He pointed out that Cairo warned Tel Aviv of the repercussions of its continued control over the Rafah crossing, and held it fully responsible for the deterioration of the humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip.

Thousands of Palestinians were displaced from the center of the city of Rafah, south of Gaza, to areas west of the Gaza Strip, on Saturday, according to eyewitnesses, hours after the Israeli army warned of depopulating the area in preparation for expanding its military operations in the city.

Earlier Saturday, the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestinian Refugees, UNRWA, estimated the number of those forced to flee Rafah so far at 300,000 Palestinians after the military operation launched by Israel on the city, ignoring all international warnings.

Simultaneously, the Israeli army expanded its ground and air attacks, on Saturday, in all the governorates of Gaza after demanding the displacement of the people of large areas in the north of the Strip and the center of the city of Rafah, and its incursion into the south of Gaza City and east of Khan Yunis, in addition to carrying out a series of violent raids that resulted in dozens of deaths and injuries in various areas of the city. sector.

Source: Al Jazeera + The Washington Post