US renews opposition to potential Israeli operation in Rafah, Gaza

Shafaq News / On Wednesday, the United States renewed its opposition to the "potential" Israeli military operation in the city of Rafah in southern Gaza.

Yedioth Ahronoth quoted US Secretary of State Antony Blinken saying that his country still "opposes any military operation in Rafah at the present time."

According to the newspaper, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu assured Blinken that "the operation is not conditional on anything."

Notably, Blinken arrived in Israel this morning and met with President Yitzhak Herzog, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Security Minister Yoav Galant, and opposition leader Yair Lapid.

He embarked on a diplomatic mission on Monday, starting in Saudi Arabia, aimed at brokering a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas and bolstering humanitarian aid to Gaza.

Blinken stated, on Tuesday, that "Israel has presented a good proposal regarding a prisoner exchange agreement, and we are awaiting a response from Hamas."

Meanwhile, Hamas negotiators left Cairo late on Monday to consult with the group's leadership after talks with Qatari and Egyptian mediators on a response to a phased truce proposal that Israel presented on the weekend.

The delegation was expected to report back within two days, two Egyptian security sources said, as cited by Reuters.

While Hamas leaders visited Cairo, Israeli airstrikes killed dozens of Palestinians on Monday, with more than half the dead in the southern Gaza city of Rafah, which foreign leaders have urged Israel not to invade.

So far, at least 34,500 Palestinians have been killed and 77,700 injured, according to Gaza's health ministry.