Gantz to US officials: Ending war without Rafah operation unacceptable to Israel

Minister Benny Gantz (National Unity) on Monday night told Biden administration officials that despite the difficulties and the pressures, Israel will decimate Hamas’ leadership in Rafah, as part of the goals of the war.

Among other things, Gantz told National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan that “ending the war without clearing out Rafah is like sending a firefighter to extinguish 80% of the fire,” Israel Hayom reported.

Gantz also met with US Vice President Kamala Harris, White House Coordinator for the Middle East and North Africa Brett McGurk, senators and congresspeople. All of the officials pressured Gantz to allow more humanitarian aid into Gaza, and even claimed that Israel is not truthful when she states that she is doing everything possible on the matter.

Israel Hayom found that some of the discussions on humanitarian issues were “difficult”; Biden administration officials expressed great doubt as to whether Israel is capable of evacuating the 1.2 million Gazans currently in and around Rafah before the military operation begins.

Gantz rejected these statements, emphasizing that ending the war in Gaza without a military operation in Rafah is something which is unacceptable to Israel. Regarding the humanitarian aid, Gantz explained that the issue is not one of bringing aid into Gaza but rather of distributing it to the civilians, since Hamas takes over the distribution as part of the preservation of its civil rule of Gaza. He also explained that in order to remove Hamas’ civil government abilities, it may be best to have a period of chaos in Gaza.

Gantz also rejected the idea of reinstating the Palestinian Authority in Gaza, noting that the Palestinian Authority has thus far not undergone sufficient change – something the US also demanded – for such a plan to be viable. Instead, Gantz proposed creating a “Gaza Civil Administration.”

A diplomatic source told Israel Hayom that there are deep differences between the perspective of the US government and that of most Israelis; in his visit, Gantz managed to close some of these gaps and present Israel’s viewpoint.