Vice President Kamala Harris warned on behalf of the Biden Administration that an Israeli military offensive in Rafah would be a ‘huge mistake’ that may yield consequences.
Harris told ABC’s ‘This Week’ on Sunday that the White House has ‘been clear in multiple conversations and in every way that any major military operation in Rafah would be a huge mistake.’
The second-in-command said that she is ‘ruling out nothing’ in terms of potential consequences for the Jewish state should it aggressively invade Rafah – Hamas’ last stronghold in Gaza.
‘We’re going to take it one step at a time, but we’ve been very clear in terms of our perspective on whether or not that should happen,’ she said.
A smoke plume erupts during Israeli bombardment on a building in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip on March 24, 2024
Last week, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu stressed that the IDF would enter Rafah – a city in southern Gaza that borders Egypt – with or without the support of the United States.
Democratic support in Washington has been waning for the Israeli leader, who has charged ahead with aggressive military action to eliminate Hamas terrorists in Gaza.
In a video statement, Netanyahu declared: ‘There were times we agreed with our friends, and there were times we did not agree with them.
‘Ultimately, we always did what was necessary for our safety, and we will do so this time as well.’
He said he had already given the go-ahead to the IDF’s planned operations in Gaza and that he would soon approve an outline for the evacuation of civilians from the city.
Harris cast doubt upon the IDF’s ability to successfully evacuate innocents saying she has ‘studied the maps.
‘There’s nowhere for those folks to go. We’re looking at about a million and a half people in Rafah who are there because they were told to go there, most of them,’ she said.
But Netanyahu appears to be immovable in his position.
Last Friday, he met with the Biden Administration’s top diplomat, Secretary of State Antony Blinken, to whom he reiterated his message.
‘I told [Blinken] that I hope we would [go into Rafah] with US support but if necessary, we will do it alone,’ he said after the pair met in Tel Aviv.
There are more than a million Palestinians in Rafah who sought refuge from Israeli ground and air strikes that were taking place further north during the opening weeks of the war.
But Netanyahu says that without an invasion of Rafah, Israel cannot achieve its goal of entirely destroying Hamas.
Earlier last week, President Joe Biden told Netanyahu during a phone call that he would be unable to support a major military offensive against Hamas in Rafah.
He said his administration would support a smaller operation that targeted high-value targets inside the terrorist organization.
The US Secretary of State Antony Blinken disembarks from an aircraft as he arrived in Tel Aviv last week to attempt to dissuade Netanyahu from executing a military operation in Rafah
Blinken said on Thursday that a major ground assault on the town in southern Gaza would be a ‘mistake’ and ‘unnecessary’ to the mission of defeating Hamas.
He made his comments after meeting with a group of top Arab diplomats in Cairo for discussions about efforts pertaining to a ceasefire and Gaza’s post-war future.
Gaza has rejected a number of ceasefire proposals from Israel and the United States, all of which are contingent upon the release of the remaining hostages taken on October 7.
Blinken said: ‘Our position, which is very clear, is that a major military operation in Rafah would be a mistake, something we don’t support.’
Despite the Biden Administration’s uniformly unambiguous position about Israel’s planned invasion of Rafah, the vice president specifically caught a significant amount of flack following her comments Sunday.
International Security professor Max Abrahams posted to X mocking Harris’ position, writing: ‘My husband is Jewish so I am expert at making bad military decisions for Israel.’
‘One of the world’s great orators AND cartographers. We are so blessed,’ wrote RNC Research administrator Jake Schneider, also mocking the VP.
Conservative columnist Benjamin Weingarten called Harris’ comments a ‘betrayal’ of the US’ single closest ally, and only friend in the troubled region.
‘The Ultimate Guide to the Biden Administration’s Betrayal of Israel,’ he wrote.
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