The White House continues to warn Israel against expanding its offensive into Rafah, the southernmost city in the Gaza Strip.
National Security Spokesman John Kirby said Tuesday that if Israel’s military doesn’t properly account for the safety of Palestinian refugees there, “an operation in Rafah would be a disaster.”
The war began when Hamas-led militants rampaged into southern Israel, killing some 1,200 people and taking around 250 hostage. About a fourth of some 130 captives still being held are believed to be dead. Israel has laid waste to much of the Palestinian territory in response. Gaza’s health ministry estimates more than 29,000 Palestinians have been killed.
More than half of the territory’s 2.3 million people have sought refuge in Rafah, many crowding into sprawling tent camps and overflowing U.N. shelters near the Egyptian border.
Top Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh was in Cairo Tuesday as the U.S., Egypt and Qatar try to mediate another cease-fire so that aid can flow and hostages can be released, but there were no expectations of a breakthrough.
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