- author, Christy Cooney
- role, BBC News
-
White House spokesman John Kirby said the United States did not believe Israel had launched a full-scale invasion of Rafah in southern Gaza.
He spoke hours after Israeli forces were reported to have reached the city center and captured a strategic hill overlooking the border with Egypt.
US President Joe Biden has previously said a full-scale invasion of Rafah, where hundreds of thousands of civilians are believed to remain displaced, would cross a red line.
Kirby was also questioned about the Israeli airstrike and subsequent fire that killed at least 45 Palestinians in tents at a displaced persons camp on Sunday.
Israel has said it believes the fire may have been caused by the explosion of weapons stored nearby by Hamas.
Kirby told reporters that the footage of Sunday’s attack, which mainly killed women, children and elderly people, was “heartbreaking” and “horrifying.”
“No innocent lives should be lost here as a result of this conflict,” he added.
However, he acknowledged that Israel was investigating the incident and said he was “not talking about a change in policy” following the recent incident in Rafah.
“We don’t yet believe a large-scale ground operation is necessary … and that’s not happening at this point,” he said.
When asked why the current operation does not meet the definition of a full-scale invasion, Kirby argued that the president “has not given the order.”
“I’ve never seen them crash into Rafa,” he said.
“I’ve never seen them take large units, large numbers of soldiers in columns or formations and do any kind of coordinated action against multiple targets on the ground.”
President Biden said earlier this month that he would halt some arms supplies to Israel if a major ground operation takes place in Rafah.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu described Sunday’s attack as a “tragic accident” and vowed to continue Operation Rafah.
The Israeli military said the attack targeted and killed two senior Hamas officials.
The Iranian government said on Tuesday that its forces were continuing operations against “terror targets” in Rafah, three weeks after launching ground operations.
Witnesses said Israeli tanks were stationed at Al-Awda crossing, a key landmark.
Residents said the western part of the city came under heavy shelling from Monday night into Tuesday.
The Israeli army denied reports on Tuesday that a tank shell had hit another tent camp in Al Mawashi, on the west bank of Rafah, killing at least 21 people, according to local officials.
Video of the incident posted on social media and analysed by BBC Verify showed several people with serious injuries.
There were no clear signs of an explosion or a crater, making it impossible to determine the cause of the accident. The site of the explosion, identified by reference to the surrounding buildings, is located between Rafah and Al-Mawasi, south of the humanitarian zone designated by the Israeli army.
Israel maintains it cannot win its seven-month war against Hamas in the Gaza Strip without taking Rafah, and has denied warnings that taking the city could have devastating humanitarian consequences.
The United Nations says around one million people have fled the fighting in Rafah, but hundreds of thousands more may still be displaced.
On May 6, the IDF launched a so-called “targeted” ground operation against Hamas fighters and infrastructure in eastern Rafah.
Since then, tanks and troops have been gradually advancing into urban areas in the east and central parts of the city, as well as north along the 13-kilometer (8-mile) border with Egypt.
Israel launched a military operation to eliminate Hamas in the Gaza Strip following a cross-border attack by Hamas into southern Israel on October 7, leaving approximately 1,200 people dead and 252 taken hostage.
At least 36,090 people have been killed in Gaza since then, according to the Hamas-run Health Ministry.
