Israel’s Rafah Invasion Shows Biden Admin Stance Isn’t ‘clear’

The Biden administration says it has been “clear” on what kind of Rafah invasion is acceptable. Israel’s counterterrorism mission into the southern Gaza city has blurred those lines.

Three administration officials said Israel’s Monday night campaign into eastern Rafah, which came hours after an evacuation order for 100,000 people, has the United States “concerned.” But they then stress the operation has fallen short of the major ground invasion the White House has warned against, one that would put the 1.4 million Palestinians in the line of fire.

“This is not what we’ve been worried about,” said one of the officials, like others granted anonymity to detail sensitive internal thinking. All three said that no review of U.S. Israel policy is happening now.

National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby later told reporters “this is an operation of limited scope, scale and duration,” noting the U.S. would “be watching this one very, very closely.”

Those sentiments muddy what President Joe Biden and his team insist is a well-defined red line. For months, the U.S. has said publicly and privately that Israeli forces shouldn’t storm into Rafah without a comprehensive civilian protection plan in place. A deteriorating humanitarian situation would prompt the U.S. to reassess its Israel policy, Biden told Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in April, a message he reiterated during a similar conversation on Monday.

But this week’s operation — which reportedly killed 23 Palestinian civilians and cut Rafah off from aid — shows that the administration has difficulties drawing and enforcing that line.

“This does look like the prelude of a major military operation,” State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller told reporters Tuesday, shortly after Kirby’s remarks. “We have not yet seen that operation commenced.” Asked about that comment, he clarified: “We don’t know if it’s a prelude or not.”

U.S. officials openly and quietly argued Israel’s maneuver was a limited response to Hamas launching an attack last weekend that killed four Israeli troops from the invaded area. But as part of that operation, Israel has now taken control of the Gaza side of the Rafah crossing with Egypt, shutting down a vital aid route and sending thousands of Palestinians fleeing for safety.

“The closure of both the Rafah and Kerem Shalom crossings is especially damaging to an already dire humanitarian situation,” United Nations Secretary General António Guterres said Tuesday. Bob Kitchen, the International Rescue Committee’s vice president for emergencies, said “over a million civilians are now in imminent danger and aid flow through the Rafah crossing has halted with no aid trucks entering since May 5.”

Two of the administration officials said the U.S. is monitoring to ensure the precise counterterrorism mission doesn’t grow into an all-out invasion of the city. Israel would have to call up more forces to take on the estimated 3,000 Hamas fighters in and under Rafah, indicating that a large-scale operation isn’t imminent.

The Israel Defense Forces said in a Monday night statement that it sent ground troops and armored vehicles into the area to “eliminate Hamas terrorists and dismantle Hamas terrorist infrastructure,” including underground positions. “Since the start of the operational activity, approximately 20 terrorists have been eliminated and three operational tunnel shafts have been located.”

Kirby further told reporters “what we’ve been told by our Israeli counterparts is that this operation last night was limited and designed to cut off Hamas’ ability to smuggle weapons and funds into Gaza.” The U.S. would work with its Israeli counterparts to reopen the Rafah crossing as soon as possible, Kirby continued.

Israeli leaders are suggesting the military mission will grow. The moves are an “important step” toward dismantling Hamas’ military and economic capabilities, Netanyahu said in a Tuesday speech. Defense Minister Yoav Gallant followed with comments delivered on the Gaza border: “This operation will continue until we eliminate Hamas in the Rafah area and the entire Gaza strip, or until the first hostage returns.”

CIA Director Bill Burns is heading back to Cairo for negotiations that may be inching toward a deal. On Monday, Hamas said it greenlit a cease-fire deal proposed by Egypt and Qatar, but it wasn’t the pact Israel and the United States supported. Hours later, Israel launched its operation into Rafah, potentially complicating talks and damaging broader efforts at normalizing relations between Israel and Saudi Arabia.

Biden delivered a Tuesday speech inside the Capitol about rising antisemitism in America, which of late has exhibited itself on college campus protests against his Israel policy. The president didn’t address the Rafah situation.

Nahal Toosi contributed to this report.