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The US denies that Israel has began a serious floor operation in Rafah that might make it change its coverage

The US doesn’t consider that Israel has begun the most important navy operation in Rafah that might trigger it to vary its coverage towards Israel. On Tuesday evening, White House nationwide safety spokesman John Kirby outlined within the clearest means but what that operation that Washington would condemn can be like: “We have not seen them.” [al ejército israelí] storm into Rafah, we have now not seen them are available with giant models, giant numbers of troops in columns and formations in some type of coordinated maneuver in opposition to a number of targets on the bottom. That's an enormous floor operation. “We haven’t seen that,” Kirby stated.

Kirby's statements got here on the identical day that Israeli tanks and armor arrived for the primary time within the heart of town of Rafah, on the southern finish of the Gaza Strip, in response to witnesses and tv photographs. They entered from the south and east. One million folks have fled town over the last three weeks as a result of advance of the Israeli military and orders to go in direction of the “humanitarian zone” of Al Mawasi, in response to estimates by the United Nations.

Asked about this navy advance into the middle of Rafah, Kirby stated that so far as he believes, “and the Israelis have talked about it, they are moving along something called the Philadelphia corridor, which is on the outskirts of the city, not in the city itself.” “We have not seen a large ground operation and these tanks are moving along a corridor that they previously told us they were going to use on the outskirts of the city to try to pressure Hamas,” added the American spokesman.

On Sunday, an Israeli strike that set fireplace to a tent camp in Rafah killed 45 folks, in an incident that Israel is investigating. At first, Prime Minister Netanyahu admitted “a tragic mistake,” however later official Israeli sources identified {that a} Hamas weapons depot sparked the fireplace. “I don't know how anyone can argue that Israel is trying to go after Hamas in a limited and precise way,” Kirby stated, including that the US awaits the Israeli investigation into the assault. “As a result of this attack on Sunday, I have no policy changes to report. It just happened,” she stated. “The Israelis are going to investigate it, we are very interested in what they discover, we will see where it takes us,” she added.

The US has repeatedly warned Israel in opposition to finishing up a large-scale invasion of town. Although one million folks have now fled, town housed greater than 1.2 million displaced folks from different elements of Gaza, so Washington was opposed, together with the complete worldwide neighborhood, to an operation with out a detailed safety plan. of the civilians that Israel has not offered. In truth, Israel claims it has solely launched a restricted offensive within the metropolis.

Last week, the UN International Court of Justice ordered Israel to cease the offensive in Rafah. Israel doesn’t acknowledge the court docket and has ignored it. The TIJ additionally doesn’t have mechanisms to implement its sentences. (Reuters)