The White House announced, this evening, Wednesday, March 27, 2024, that the office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had agreed to reschedule a planned meeting for a delegation from his country with American officials in Washington to discuss the ground military operation that Tel Aviv plans to launch in the city of Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip, according to what The Hebrew newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth reported.
This delegation was scheduled to leave for Washington this week, but Netanyahu canceled that visit in protest against the United States not obstructing the resolution recently adopted by the Security Council, which calls for a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip during the month of Ramadan.
The Hebrew newspaper said that Netanyahu conveyed to the White House a message stating that he wanted to set a new date for the arrival of his country’s delegation to Washington, retracting his decision to cancel the visit.
For its part, the American Associated Press said that talks between the American and Israeli sides have resumed with the aim of paving the way for the Israeli delegation’s visit.
The agency quoted White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre as saying, “Netanyahu’s office agreed to reschedule the meeting dedicated to Rafah.”
She added: “We are working with the Israelis now to determine a new date suitable for both sides, after Netanyahu’s office agreed to reschedule that meeting, which will be dedicated to Rafah, which is a good thing,” without specifying a final date.
Earlier Wednesday, the American network NBC reported that Netanyahu had agreed to send the delegation, which is scheduled to include Israeli Minister of Strategic Affairs Ron Dermer and National Security Advisor Tzachi Hanegbi.
But the Israeli Prime Minister’s Office quickly issued a statement saying that Netanyahu “has not yet agreed to the delegation’s departure to Washington.”
Earlier Wednesday, Netanyahu met in his office in Jerusalem with Republican Senator Rick Scott, and claimed that his original decision to cancel the delegation’s travel was due to his desire to show Hamas that “pressure on Israel will not succeed,” according to Yedioth Ahronoth.
Netanyahu attacked the policy of the Democratic administration of President Joe Biden, and claimed that “the American position in the Security Council (by abstaining from voting on the recent resolution on Gaza) was a very not good step, and what is worse is that it encouraged Hamas to take a tough stance and rely on international pressure in the belief that it will prevent… Israel from its destruction and from releasing the kidnapped,” referring to the Israeli prisoners held in Gaza.
For some time now, regional and international warnings have been mounting about the repercussions of any Israeli ground invasion of Rafah, which is home to about 1.4 million displaced Palestinians who were pushed by the Israeli army into the area claiming that it was safe, and then later launched attacks on it that resulted in deaths and injuries.
