Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Wednesday told Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant that the Biden administration expressed concerned about the expansion of Israel's military operation in the southern Gaza city of Rafah, Axios reported.
Rafah lies on the southern border with Egypt and is home to an estimated 1 million civilian war refugees. As talks of an impending Israeli offensive intensified, the fragile relationship Israel has with Egypt could be in peril if an aggressive ground campaign forces the sheltering civilians across the border, The Wall Street Journal reported.
"We are continuing this operation, and we will also reach the places where we have not yet fought in the central and southern strip and especially the last center of gravity left in Hamas' hands: Rafah," Gallant said in a news conference on Monday, the Journal reported. Gallant did not provide a strategy or a time frame for when the offensive might occur.
As the war in Gaza enters its fifth month, the Biden administration is desperate for some signs of reprieve in the bloodshed.
Earlier Wednesday, Netanyahu rejected Hamas' terms for a cease-fire, as the war in Gaza entered its fifth month, calling them "delusional." Among the terms were for Israel to release thousands of Palestinians held in Israeli jails.
Speaking on a nationally televised news conference Wednesday, Netanyahu said, "Surrendering to Hamas' delusional demands that we heard now not only won't lead to freeing the captives, it will just invite another massacre."
"We are on the way to an absolute victory," Netanyahu said, adding that the operation would last months, not years. "There is no other solution."
© 2025 Newsmax. All rights reserved.