As Israeli forces advanced deeper into Rafah, days after an airstrike ignited a major fire that killed dozens of Palestinians, the White House stated that Israel had not crossed the Biden administration's "red line."
On Tuesday, Israeli tanks were seen entering central Rafah for the first time, amid global condemnation over the deaths in a crowded tent camp for displaced civilians. Additionally, U.S. aid deliveries to Gaza by sea were suspended after the temporary pier was damaged. On Wednesday, Israel's national security adviser projected that the conflict would extend through the end of the year.
Despite the intensifying situation, U.S. National Security Council spokesman John Kirby assured reporters that the U.S. was not ignoring Israel's operations in Rafah, from which about one million Palestinians have fled recently.
Kirby stated that the Biden administration did not consider Israel's actions in Rafah to constitute a "major ground operation" that would violate President Joe Biden’s warnings and potentially lead to a halt in U.S. weapons shipments. He clarified, "A major ground operation involves thousands of troops moving in a coordinated manner against multiple targets on the ground."
A U.S. official echoed this sentiment to NBC News, describing the deadly airstrike as a "horrific incident" that appeared to have gone "horribly wrong," rather than an indication of Israel "smashing into Rafah."
Earlier this month, Biden told CNN, “I made it clear that if they go into Rafah — they haven’t gone in Rafah yet — if they go into Rafah, I’m not supplying the weapons that have been used historically to deal with Rafah, to deal with the cities — that deal with that problem."
When NBC News’ Gabe Gutierrez asked how Israeli tanks approaching central Gaza did not constitute a full-scale ground operation, Kirby explained that Israeli officials had reported their tanks were moving along the Philadelphi Corridor, a strategic area along the Egypt-Gaza border, and “not in the town proper.”
“We're relying on what the Israelis are telling us and what they’re saying publicly, as well as our own observations, as best we can,” Kirby responded.
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| Reporters grilled the White House at a briefing Tuesday.Chip Somodevilla / Getty Image |
Kirby's comments followed an Israeli airstrike that ignited a fire, devastating a tent camp in Rafah's Tal al-Sultan neighborhood and killing at least 45 people, including children, according to local health officials.
Hala Rharrit, a U.S. diplomat and veteran foreign service officer who resigned from the State Department last month in protest over Washington’s policy on Israel’s war in Gaza, criticized the Biden administration for trying to "wiggle their way out of this latest shift" on what constitutes a “red line.”
“The point of the president saying population centers were a ‘red line’ is to avoid mass civilian casualties,” Rharrit told NBC News in a phone interview on Wednesday. “Whether they’re going in by tanks or
it’s happening via bombs from the air, are we really trying to mince words?”
The attack on the tent camp has added to growing international pressure after the United Nations’ top court ordered Israel to halt its offensive in Rafah. The U.N. Security Council could vote as early as Wednesday on a draft resolution circulated by Algeria ordering Israel to immediately stop its offensive and demanding a cease-fire in Gaza, according to The Associated Press.
Israel submitted a new cease-fire proposal to Qatari, Egyptian and American mediators Monday, an Israeli official told NBC News. The proposal offered a “sustainable calm” but not a complete end to the war as demanded by Hamas.
Basem Naim, a senior Hamas official, told NBC News on Tuesday that Hamas had not received any proposal from the mediators.
In a briefing Tuesday, Israel Defense Forces spokesman Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari said Israel was still investigating the Rafah strike, including what caused the fire that he said “resulted in this tragic loss of life.”
He said the IDF fired two 17 kilogram (37.5 pound) warheads targeting two senior Hamas militants, but he said somehow a fire was ignited, adding that the blaze was "unexpected and
unintended."
He suggested the possibility that weapons stored in the area targeted might have ignited the fire, but said that was an "assumption" at this point. An Israeli official and U.S. official separately told NBC News it was possible a fuel tank was struck, igniting the blaze.
The images from the strike have increased pressure on the U.S. to act.
During Tuesday’s White House briefing, Kirby was asked how many "charred corpses" President Biden needed to see before changing policy. Kirby said he took “offense” to the question, stating: “We don’t want to see a single more innocent life taken.”
The IDF has been conducting a months-long ground offensive in Gaza, which has resulted in over 36,000 deaths, according to the Gaza Health Ministry.
Israel initiated the offensive in response to Hamas’ October 7 terror attacks, which killed around 1,200 people and resulted in approximately 250 others being taken hostage, according to Israeli officials. About 125 hostages are believed to still be held in Gaza, with around a third presumed dead.
On Wednesday, national security adviser Tzachi Hanegbi said on Israeli radio, "We still expect another seven months of fighting this year to deepen the achievement and accomplish what we define as the destruction of Hamas's governmental and military capabilities, without setting a stopwatch for ourselves."
Biden’s warning about the U.S. “red line” is reminiscent of former President Barack Obama’s similar stance in August 2012, when he warned against the use of chemical weapons in the Syrian civil war.
Critics accused Obama of failing to act when that boundary was crossed, with political opponent John McCain saying the Obama administration’s red line appeared to be “written in disappearing ink.”
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