US believes Israel has enough troops next to Rafah to launch full ground op soon
Troops of the Givati Brigade operate in eastern Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip, in a handout photo published May 13, 2024. (Israel Defense Forces)
The US believes that Israel has enough troops just outside the southern Gaza city of Rafah to launch a full ground operation soon, according to a CNN report.
The report, citing two senior US administration officials, says the Biden administration is nevertheless not sure if Israel has made the decision to move ahead with a full ground invasion of the city, following President Joe Biden’s warning last week that such a move would prompt the US to withhold some additional weapons shipments.
Israel has urged residents of some neighborhoods in the city, which the IDF has called the last major Hamas stronghold in Gaza, to evacuate over the past week, and estimates indicate that more than 350,000 have left, but hundreds of thousands are believed to remain.
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