The United States has assessed that Israel has amassed enough troops on the edge of the southern Gaza city of Rafah to launch a large-scale incursion in the coming days, but senior U.S. officials are unsure whether that has been taken. the decision to carry out the offensive, two senior administration officials told CNN.
The White House believes an Israeli ground offensive in Rafah would be a mistake and is working “urgently” to achieve a ceasefire, national security adviser Jake Sullivan said Monday.
The Biden administration is urging Israel to connect its military operations to a “clear” end to the war, Sullivan told reporters. And a senior State Department official said the United States and Israel are “fighting over what is the theory of victory” for Israel in Gaza, and that the United States does not believe the kind of total victory Israel says it is for. fighting Hamas is “likely or possible.”
Here are the main developments:
Unclear military strategy: The Israeli army has renewed its fighting in northern Gaza, where it previously claimed to have dismantled the Hamas command structure. But it now says the Palestinian militant group is trying to “regroup” in the area, raising questions about whether Israel's goal of eradicating the group in the enclave is realistic and renewing questions about its long-term military strategy.
Hamas tried in Türkiye: Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan stated that “more than 1,000 Hamas members are currently under treatment” in Turkish hospitals. He said that he does not see Hamas as a “terrorist organization” but as a “resistance organization.”
Death toll unchanged: The United Nations has clarified that the Gaza war death toll, tallied by the enclave's Health Ministry, remains unchanged at more than 35,000, after its casualty report caused confusion.
Aid looted: Israeli activists opposed to helping Palestinians in Gaza intercepted and looted an aid shipment. Video recorded from a checkpoint in the occupied West Bank shows at least two looted trucks. Other images showed activists blocking the passage of trucks, throwing packages on the ground and trampling on boxes. It is unclear whether the aid came from Jordan or the Palestinian Authority.
United Nations official killed and injured: At least one U.N. aid worker was killed and another injured after a vehicle marked as belonging to the agency was attacked in Rafah, according to a spokesman for the U.N. secretary-general, who did not blame either Israel or Hamas for the attack. stroke.
