Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will send a delegation of officials to the US to discuss Israeli plans to attack Rafah, the southern Gaza city on the Egyptian border that’s packed with 1.5 million Palestinians.
National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan said Netanyahu agreed to send “a senior interagency team composed of military, intelligence and humanitarian officials” during a phone call with President Biden on Monday.
The US has warned Israel against a full-scale assault on the city without taking into account the safety of the civilians who are there. Israeli officials have said they will evacuate the civilians to “humanitarian islands,” but it’s not clear where the locations are, and Israel has attacked so-called “safe zones” throughout its campaign in Gaza.
“Israel has not presented us or the world with a plan for how or where they would safely move those civilians, let alone feed and house them and ensure access to basic things like sanitation,” Sullivan said.
Despite growing international pressure, Netanyahu has repeatedly vowed he will go ahead with the Rafah invasion. Netanyahu’s office announced that he approved Israeli military plans to attack the city on Friday, but a timeline for when the assault will be launched is not known.
Media reports have said Biden is considering conditioning military aid to Israel if it attacks Rafah without protecting civilians. But US officials told ABC News that they’re actually thinking about increasing military support for Israel to incentivize less civilian casualties even though US aid and political cover has only emboldened Israel to carry out such a brutal slaughter.
So far, the US-backed onslaught has killed over 31,000 Palestinians, including at least 13,000 children, though the true death toll is likely much higher since the numbers don’t take into account the thousands who are missing and presumed dead under the rubble.
“Hi Joe, it’s Bibi. Got the money and the bombs?”
“Sure do, Benny.”
“Good. So it’s all systems go and we can continue genociding?”
“Yeah, what was your name again?”
“Never mind. Put Donald on the phone. … Hello Don. Get Joe an ice-cream, then hook me up with your best architects. We’re ready to build, build, build.”
“Great, just save me that prime spot on the central strip. I’d like a replica of Mar-a-Lago built there, only larger.”
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Damn, you hit the nail on the head, Galen. Lol