‘Stop arms smuggling’: Washington’s alternative plan to Rafah invasion

The White House will tell Israeli officials securing the Gaza-Egypt border to prevent weapons being brought in for Hamas will be more effective than a ground invasion.

Smoke billows over Rafah after an Israeli strike. Picture: AFP.

The White House will reportedly lay out an alternative to a ground invasion of Rafah, the Gaza city where more than a million Palestinian refugees are living in near famine conditions, when Israeli officials visit Washington next week.

The plan includes securing the Egypt-Gaza border to prevent weapons smuggling into the enclave, The Times of Israel reports.

US officials told the newspaper that tightening security to cut off the smuggling brought through the Philadelphi Corridor would be more effective for the destruction of Hamas than a ground offensive into Rafah.

“If Israel smashes into Rafah with all the civilian casualties that doing so would entail, cooperation from Egypt on locking down the [Philadelphi] Corridor will be much more difficult,” an official told The Times.

“This isn’t just us saying, ‘No you can’t do it.’ We’re saying that we’re willing to work with you on viable alternatives that still help you achieve your objectives,” another official said.

On Monday, Jake Sullivan announced that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had accepted a request from Joe Biden to send a delegation to Washington to hear “an alternative approach that would target key Hamas elements in Rafah and secure the Egypt-Gaza border, without a major ground invasion.”

Benjamin Netanyahu on Wednesday local time said an invasion would not begin “for some time,” acknowledging Mr Biden’s request for the US to present its own proposals when two Israeli officials arrive in Washington on Sunday.

In a televised address, Mr Netanyahu said the invasion plan had been approved and the war cabinet was set to approve a plan to evacuate civilians from the city.

“While we are preparing to enter Rafah, which will take some time, we continue to operate with all our might,” Mr Netanyahu said. “We continue to operate in Khan Younis, in the central camps, for the elimination and capture of senior Hamas officials as we just did in Shifa Hospital, while eliminating hundreds of terrorists.”

“As I promised you time and time again — we are determined to achieve absolute victory, and we will achieve it.”