US Secretary of State, Anthony Blinken, warned on Sunday that a large-scale Israeli attack on Rafah would sow “chaos” and would not lead to Israel eliminating the Hamas movement, acknowledging that the number of civilians martyred in the war was more than the number of deaths among the Palestinian resistance factions.

Blinken confirmed, in an interview with the American television station NBC, that the current Israeli plan in Rafah “may cause massive damage to civilians without solving the problem.” He continued, saying: "Thousands of armed Hamas members will remain," even if an attack occurs in Rafah.

He said that an Israeli attack in Rafah could result in "chaos" with the possibility of the eventual return of Hamas. He continued, "We saw Hamas returning to areas controlled by Israel in the north, even in Khan Yunis," the southern city near Rafah. "We discussed with them a much better way to reach a lasting outcome," Blinken added.

In response to a question about whether Washington considers the number of civilian casualties in the Gaza Strip to be greater than the number of Hamas deaths, Blinken answered, “Yes,” in a statement to the American CBS television station, in light of President Joe Biden’s opposition to the attack in Rafah.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken reiterated his opposition to a large-scale military attack on Rafah, telling CBS that Israel "will be the one who will bear responsibility for the permanent rebellion" without a Gaza exit and post-war governance plan.

He stressed that Israel does not have a "credible plan" to protect about 1.4 million Palestinian civilians in Rafah, warning that any Israeli attack could lead to a "rebellion" if it does not succeed in eliminating all Hamas fighters in the city located south of the Strip.

Blinken said in an interview with NBC, “Israel is on a path that could potentially lead to rebellion if the presence of many armed Hamas fighters continues or if it leaves a chaotic vacuum that Hamas is likely to fill.” He added that Hamas fighters are already returning to the areas of northern Gaza, where Israel said it had eliminated the militants.

The planned invasion of Rafah deepened the tension in relations between Israel and the US administration, and Blinken said, "If (Israel) launches this major military operation in Rafah, there are certain systems (weapons) that we will not support or provide for this operation." He added that Israel “must have a clear and credible plan to protect civilians, which we have not seen.”

Blinken pointed out that Israel has also not developed a post-war plan for security, governance, and reconstruction of Gaza, adding to CBS that the United States is working with Arab governments and others on such a plan. He said, "We have the same goals as Israel... We want to make sure that Hamas will not be able to rule Gaza again."

The United States has publicly warned that it may suspend the delivery of some types of weapons to Israel, especially artillery shells, if Israel launches a large-scale attack on the densely populated and displaced city in the far south of the Gaza Strip.

NBC and CBS News broadcast interviews with Blinken that focused on President Joe Biden's decision to suspend a bomb shipment to Israel due to fears of significant civilian casualties in Rafah, and a US State Department report stating that Israel's use of weapons supplied by the United States may have violated international law.

The report, which has nothing to do with the bomb shipment, did not find specific violations that would justify withholding US military aid in light of the inability of investigators to reach “conclusive evidence” regarding specific raids or attacks, and indicated that the chaos of war prevented verification of violations in specific incidents.

Blinken said that Hamas' use of civilian infrastructure and tunnels "makes it very difficult to determine what happened in specific incidents, especially in the midst of war," defending the report, which was criticized by some lawmakers from Biden's Democratic Party and human rights organizations.

Blinken defended the decision to stop the delivery of 3,500 bombs, weighing between 500 pounds (about 227 kilograms) and two thousand pounds (907 kilograms), explaining that this shipment was the only American weapons package that was withheld.

The occupation forces entered the city of Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip today, and engaged in violent clashes with the Hamas movement and resistance factions in parts of the devastated northern Gaza Strip, which the Israeli occupation army had announced that it had operational control of months ago, but the resistance fighters reorganized their ranks there.

The Israeli occupation army re-sent tanks to incursion into the Al-Zaytoun neighborhood in eastern Gaza City, as well as into the Al-Sabra neighborhood, where residents reported that violent bombardment led to the destruction of a number of homes, some of which were multi-storey residential buildings. The occupation army announced months ago its control over most of these areas.

The occupation army also pushed its tanks and military vehicles to the east of Jabalia, north of the Gaza Strip, after intense air and ground bombardment that targeted the area and led to the death of dozens. The Israeli army said late on Saturday evening that the forces were carrying out operations in Jabalia under the pretext of preventing Hamas from rebuilding its military capabilities there.

Israeli army spokesman Daniel Hagari said, “In recent weeks, we have observed attempts by Hamas to rehabilitate its military capabilities in Jabalia. We are carrying out our operations there to thwart these attempts,” while Israeli reports revealed that Chief of Staff Herzi Halevy warned of the Palestinian resistance’s ability to restore Building its capabilities in the absence of a political plan for the occupation in Gaza.

Washington believes that the absence of an effective authority in Gaza led to the collapse of public order and allowed the resistance factions to reconstitute themselves even in the most affected areas. Israel has not yet presented a detailed plan for post-war governance in Gaza, saying only that it will maintain open security control over the Palestinian coastal enclave, which is inhabited by about 2.4 million Palestinians.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu pledged, in a speech he delivered on “Remembrance Day” for those killed in Israeli wars, to “continue fighting until victory,” noting that he rejects the post-war plans proposed by Washington regarding the Palestinian Authority ruling Gaza with the support of Arab and Islamic countries.

These plans depend on progress towards the establishment of a Palestinian state, which the Netanyahu government opposes. The political commentator in the Israeli newspaper "Maariv", Ben Caspit, considered that "the Hamas regime cannot be overthrown without preparing an alternative to that regime," expressing the growing frustration that many Israelis feel after more than seven months of war.

He added: "The only people who can rule Gaza after the war are the people of Gaza, with a lot of support and help from outside."

In light of the attack on Rafah, the Cairo News TV channel, which is close to Egyptian General Intelligence, reported that Egypt refused to coordinate with Israel regarding the delivery of aid through the crossing due to the “unacceptable Israeli escalation.”

A senior Egyptian official told The Associated Press that Cairo has lodged protests with Israel, the United States and European governments, saying the attack puts the decades-long peace treaty with Israel at "great risk."