Middle East conflict live updates: Israel to reschedule talks in Washington on Rafah offensive, U.S. says

The office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu agreed to reschedule a visit by an Israeli delegation to Washington, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters, to further discuss Israel’s planned ground invasion of the southern Gaza city of Rafah. Israel had canceled the delegation after the United States abstained from a U.N. Security Council vote on a cease-fire resolution, allowing it to pass. Biden administration officials urged Israel this week to abandon plans for the offensive in Rafah, which Netanyahu said Israel has “no choice” but to carry out.

Here’s what to know

• Several senior Biden administration officials spoke with Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant in Washington this week about the impending ground offensive in Rafah, Jean-Pierre said, adding that the United States is working with Israel to “find a convenient date” for a meeting dedicated to the topic.
• Israeli forces have launched operations inside al-Amal Hospital in southern Gaza, the Israeli military confirmed Wednesday, as their raid on al-Shifa Hospital in the north continued since its launch more than a week ago. About two-thirds of hospitals in Gaza were nonfunctional as of Wednesday, the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said.
• More than half of Americans say they disapprove of Israel’s military action in Gaza, while 36 percent say they approve of it, according to a Gallup poll of 1,016 U.S. adults released Wednesday. Sixty-four percent of Republicans and 18 percent of Democrats support Israel’s military action, the poll found.
• At least 32,490 people have been killed and 74,889 injured in Gaza since the war began, according to the Gaza Health Ministry, which does not distinguish between civilians and combatants. Israel estimates that about 1,200 people were killed in Hamas’s Oct. 7 attack and says 253 soldiers have been killed since the start of its military operation in Gaza.

4:34 AM: Netanyahu says Israel has ‘no choice’ but to launch Rafah offensive

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told members of Congress who visited Jerusalem on Wednesday that the his military has “no choice” but to plan for a ground offensive into Rafah, the southern Gaza city where the majority of Palestinians have fled to escape intense fighting.

Israel says Hamas militants are hiding alongside remaining hostages in Rafah. But earlier this week, the Biden administration reiterated its opposition to a major ground offensive in the city, where more than 1.4 million people are estimated to be sheltering following Israeli military directives to evacuate from the north. Secretary of State Antony Blinken met with Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant on Monday and expressed concerns about the potential military operation, and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin urged Israel on Tuesday to abandon its plan, saying there is a “moral necessity and a strategic imperative” to protect civilians in the Hamas-controlled Strip.

“We’ve had a remarkable alignment,” Netanyahu said during the meeting Wednesday, referring to Israel’s relationship with the United States during the war. “Not without differences, not without discussions, but we’ve been able to overcome them since the beginning of the war, with President Biden and his team.”

Many world leaders and humanitarian organizations also have expressed concerns about a potential Rafah invasion. State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said this week that Israel “has not presented a credible plan” to evacuate civilians.

Israeli officials have said they would direct civilians to “humanitarian islands” in central Gaza ahead of the offensive. Netanyahu responded to the widespread concern about civilian casualties Wednesday, saying, “People can move down, they can go up. … People just move. They move with their tents.”

The prime minister’s office listed eight Democratic House members and one Republican as attending the meeting, organized by the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, a powerful Washington lobbying group.

By: Frances Vinall

3:03 AM: Netanyahu will reschedule meeting with U.S. on Rafah, White House says

Middle East conflict live updates: Israel to reschedule talks in Washington on Rafah offensive, U.S. says

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office has “agreed to reschedule” a meeting he canceled this week between his top aides and senior Biden administration officials, White House spokeswoman Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters Wednesday. “We’re working with them to find a convenient date,” she added.

Netanyahu pulled out of the session, requested by President Biden to discuss U.S. concerns over Israel’s planned military operation against Hamas in the southern Gaza City of Rafah, after the United States abstained Monday from a United Nations Security Council resolution calling for an “immediate” cease-fire in Gaza.

Responding to the news Tuesday, State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said the cancellation of the delegation’s visit was “surprising and unfortunate.”

The Biden administration has said it would not support a “major military operation” in Rafah, where more than a million Gazans have fled from Israeli air and ground attacks. Israel has said it would relocate civilians out of harm’s way, but has presented no plan to do so. U.N., and international aid organizations have warned that there is no place else to move them.

Biden officials said they expected to talk to Israel about “alternatives” to the attack plan in the now-canceled meetings.

By: Karen DeYoung