The U.S. said Israel has not presented Washington with a "comprehensive plan" for its invasion of Rafah, where over 1.5 million Palestinians displaced by its attacks have taken shelter in, the White House said, as the U.N. warned of "slaughter" of civilians.
Spokesperson Karine Jean-Pierre said Washington has been "clear" with Israel about its concerns about "any major military operations in" Rafah, in particular the need to protect the area's civilian population.
"We want to make sure that their lives are protected," she told reporters at the White House.
"We believe that the Israeli government is going to take our concerns into account. But we have not seen a plan, comprehensive plan, and we want to make sure that those conversations continue because it is important to protect those Palestinian lives, those innocent lives, those more than a million citizens who are seeking refuge in that part of Gaza in Rafah," she added.
The comments come after the Politico news website reported that Israel has briefed U.S. officials and aid groups on its plan "to begin removing Gazans from Rafah," and forcibly relocate them again to neighboring al-Mawasi ahead of the beginning of the invasion.
Al-Mawasi is a small Gazan town on the coast northwest of Rafah. It is unclear how such an area could accommodate the roughly 1.7 million Palestinians in Rafah, about 1.5 million of whom took refuge there after being displaced earlier during Israel's war on the besieged enclave.
The IDF has informed aid groups that it will begin its invasion "soon," two anonymous sources familiar with the matter told Politico.
The Wall Street Journal newspaper separately reported that Israel gave Hamas one week to agree to a temporary cease-fire deal that would see the release of 33 hostages with hostilities coming to a halt for 40 days. During that time, negotiations could continue for the release of further hostages and the potential extension of the truce.
But Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said this week that his forces would invade Rafah "with or without" a cease-fire agreement.
Israel has pounded the Gaza Strip in retaliation for a cross-border attack led by Hamas, which killed about 1,200 people. At least 34,622 Palestinians have since been killed in Gaza, the vast majority of whom have been women and children, and 77,867 people have been injured, according to Palestinian health authorities.
The Israeli war on Gaza has pushed 85% of the territory's population into internal displacement amid acute shortages of food, clean water, and medicine, while 60% of the enclave's infrastructure has been damaged or destroyed, according to the UN.
Israel stands accused of genocide at the International Court of Justice. An interim ruling in January said it is "plausible" that Israel is committing genocide in Gaza, and ordered Tel Aviv to stop such acts and take measures to guarantee that humanitarian assistance is provided to civilians in Gaza.
Hostilities have continued unabated, however, and aid deliveries remain woefully insufficient to address the humanitarian catastrophe.
An Israeli incursion in Rafah would put the lives of hundreds of thousands of Gazans at risk and be a huge blow to the aid operations of the entire enclave, the U.N. humanitarian office said on Friday, as the World Health Organization announced contingency plans for an incursion.
"It could be a slaughter of civilians and an incredible blow to the humanitarian operation in the entire strip because it is run primarily out of Rafah," said Jens Laerke, spokesperson for the U.N. humanitarian office (OCHA), at a Geneva press briefing.
Aid operations in Rafah include medical clinics, warehouses stocked with humanitarian supplies, food distribution points and 50 centers for acutely malnourished children, Laerke said.
OCHA would do everything possible to ensure aid operations continued, even in the event of an incursion, and was studying how to do that, he added.
A World Health Organization official said at the same briefing that a contingency plan for Rafah had been prepared, which included a new field hospital, but said it would not be enough to prevent a substantial rise in the death toll.
Already, more than 34,000 Palestinians have been killed in nearly seven months of conflict, according to Gaza's health ministry.
"I want to really say that this contingency plan is a band-aid," said Rik Peeperkorn, WHO representative for the occupied Palestinian territory via video link. "It will absolutely not prevent the expected substantial additional mortality and morbidity caused by a military operation."
Other preparations include pre-positioning medical supplies at hospitals further north in case Rafah's three hospitals become non-functional, as has happened multiple times in the seven-month conflict due to Israeli raids and bombings.
WHO data shows that just a third of the strip's 36 pre-war hospitals are partially operational due to Israel's outrageous attacks targeting health facilities, in grave violation of international law.
Peeperkorn added that he was "extremely concerned" that any incursion would close the Rafah crossing between Gaza and Egypt which is currently being used to import medical supplies.
"We are pushing and lobbying that, whatever happens, that it remains open," he added, saying WHO had raised this issue with Israeli authorities.
Israel has given Hamas one week to agree to a cease-fire deal, or it will proceed with its military operation in Rafah, said a report on Friday amid ongoing cease-fire talks in Cairo.
The Wall Street Journal reported that Egyptian officials conveyed Israel's message to Hamas on Thursday.
The officials said Egypt worked with Israel on a revised cease-fire proposal and presented to Hamas last weekend but Hamas' military leader Yahya Sinwar has yet not responded, according to the report.
Meanwhile, a delegation from the Palestinian Hamas group is expected to visit Cairo on Saturday to discuss cease-fire efforts, according to Egyptian media on Friday.
CIA Director William Burns arrived in Cairo on Friday for meetings with Egyptian officials regarding the talks to reach a cease-fire in Gaza.
Egypt's state-run Al-Qahera News channel quoted a senior and informed Egyptian source that said Egypt will receive a delegation from Hamas on Saturday to discuss the cease-fire proposal.
The newspaper, however, did not provide further details.
Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry confirmed on Monday during a meeting of the World Economic Forum in Saudi Arabia that there is a new proposal on the table for a truce in the blockaded Gaza Strip.
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken also said on Monday that Hamas has a proposal that is "extraordinarily, extraordinarily generous on the part of Israel."
"They have to decide - and they have to decide quickly. I'm hopeful that they will make the right decision," Blinken added.
Hamas is estimated to be holding more than 130 Israeli hostages, while Tel Aviv is holding more than 9,100 Palestinians in its jails.
A previous deal in November 2023 saw the release of 81 Israelis and 24 foreigners in exchange for 240 Palestinians, including 71 women and 169 children.
The recent proposal reportedly suggests a six-week cease-fire, during which Hamas would release 33 hostages, including women, female soldiers, elderly individuals, and injured captives, in exchange for the release of a large number of Palestinians from Israeli jails.
Hamas demands an end to Israel's deadly offensive on the Gaza Strip and the withdrawal of Israeli forces from the territory for any hostage-prisoner swap deal with Tel Aviv.
