GAZA: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has ordered the army to prepare to 鈥渆vacuate鈥� hundreds of thousands of Palestinians from Gaza鈥檚 Rafah, his office said Friday, after Washington warned it would not support any ground assault on the city.
The show of defiance against Israel鈥檚 main ally came after President Joe Biden issued his strongest criticism yet of Netanyahu鈥檚 conduct of the war, warning the response to Hamas鈥檚 October 7 attack had been 鈥渙ver the top.鈥�
Netanyahu told military and security officials to 鈥渟ubmit to the cabinet a combined plan for evacuating the population and destroying the battalions鈥� of Palestinian militant group Hamas holed up in Rafah, a statement from his office said.
The city is the last main population center in the Gaza Strip that Israeli troops have yet to enter but is also the main point of entry for desperately needed relief supplies.
Palestinians displaced from other Gaza towns and cities have flooded into Rafah, sending its population soaring to an estimated 1.3 million, more than half of the territory鈥檚 2.4 million population.
The United States is Israel鈥檚 main international backer, providing it with billions of dollars in military aid.
But the US State Department said it does not support a ground offensive in Rafah, warning that, if not properly planned, such an operation risked 鈥渄isaster.鈥�
And in a sign of his growing frustration with Israel鈥檚 leadership, Biden said its military retaliation for the October 7 attack had gone too far.
鈥淚鈥檓 of the view, as you know, that the conduct of the response in Gaza, in the Gaza Strip, has been over the top,鈥� the US president said.
鈥淭here are a lot of innocent people who are starving... in trouble and dying, and it鈥檚 got to stop.鈥�
Witnesses reported new strikes on Rafah overnight, after the Israeli military intensified air raids.
AFP images showed scenes of devastation in Rafah鈥檚 streets, where people queued for increasingly scarce water.
The Hamas-run territory鈥檚 health ministry said more than 100 people were killed in overnight bombardment, including at least eight in Rafah.
The Palestinian Red Crescent said three children were killed in a strike in Rafah, where many displaced are trapped in tents pushed up against the Egyptian border.
鈥淲e heard the sound of a huge explosion next to our house... we found two children martyred in the street,鈥� said Jaber Al-Bardini, 60.
鈥淭here is no safe place in Rafah. If they storm Rafah we will die in our homes. We have no choice. We don鈥檛 want to go anywhere else.鈥�
The Israeli army said its forces had 鈥渆liminated 15 terrorists鈥� in the past day in Khan Yunis, southern Gaza鈥檚 biggest city. It also reported fighting in central and northern Gaza.
Hamas鈥檚 unprecedented October 7 attack resulted in the deaths of about 1,160 people in Israel, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official Israeli figures.
In response, Israel vowed to eradicate Hamas and launched air strikes and a ground offensive that have killed at least 27,947 people, mostly women and children, according to the health ministry.
Militants seized 250 hostages, 132 of whom are still in Gaza, but 29 are presumed dead, Israel has said.
State Department deputy spokesman Vedant Patel said Washington had 鈥測et to see any evidence of serious planning鈥� for an Israeli ground operation in Rafah but said such an assault was 鈥渘ot something we鈥檇 support.鈥�
鈥淭o conduct such an operation right now with no planning and little thought... would be a disaster,鈥� Patel warned.
Secretary of State Antony Blinken had conveyed Washington鈥檚 concerns to Netanyahu directly during talks this week in Jerusalem, he added.
UN chief Antonio Guterres said news of the coming Israeli push into Rafah was 鈥渁larming,鈥� saying it 鈥渨ould exponentially increase what is already a humanitarian nightmare.鈥�
The United Nations agency for Palestinian refugees, UNRWA, warned against a major Israeli operation in Rafah.
鈥淭here鈥檚 a sense of growing anxiety and growing panic in Rafah. People have absolutely no idea where to go after Rafah,鈥� said its chief, Philippe Lazzarini.
On the ceasefire talks, Blinken insisted he still saw 鈥渟pace for agreement to be reached鈥� to halt the fighting and bring home Israeli hostages, even after Netanyahu rejected what he labelled Hamas鈥檚 鈥渂izarre demands.鈥�
Cairo hosted new talks Friday with Qatari and Hamas negotiators seeking a Gaza ceasefire and an agreement for a hostage-prisoner exchange.
A Hamas source told AFP there had been 鈥減ositive and good discussions鈥� in the Egyptian capital so far and expressed hopes for more progress.
The impact of the war has been felt widely, with violence involving Iran-backed allies of Hamas across the Middle East surging since October and drawing in US forces among others.
Lebanon鈥檚 Iran-backed Hezbollah movement said Friday it had fired dozens of rockets into Israel overnight in response to attacks in its south, including the city of Nabatiyeh.
It came a day after an Israeli strike on a car in Nabatiyeh seriously wounded a Hezbollah commander, sources on both sides of the border said.
On the same day, the US military struck four unmanned surface vessels and seven cruise missiles it said Yemen鈥檚 Iran-backed Houthi militia had been set to launch against ships in the Red Sea.
The strike came after US forces last week launched a wave of attacks on Iran-linked targets in Iraq and Syria following the killing of three US troops in neighboring Jordan.