The Biden Administration is reportedly bribing Israel to not invade Rafah after the president faced criticism for withholding vital weapons from the Jewish state.
A Washington Post report revealed that President Joe Biden’s administration is offering Israel valuable intelligence on the location of Hamas leaders and the group’s hidden tunnels if it refrains from attacking Rafah. This includes sensitive information that would help the Israeli military locate Hamas leaders.
The Biden Administration’s deal also includes providing thousands of shelters so that Israel can build tent cities, as well as providing assistance in the construction of delivery systems for food, water, and medicine so that Palestinians escaping Rafah could have a place to live.
Biden aides are stressing to their Israeli counterparts that Palestinians cannot simply be moved to barren or bombarded parts of Gaza, but that Israel must provide basic infrastructure — including shelter, food, water, medicine, and other necessities — so that those who are evacuated will have livable conditions and not simply be exposed to additional famine or disease. Experts from across the U.S. government are advising their Israeli counterparts in great detail on how to develop and implement such a humanitarian plan, down to the level of how many tents and how much water would be needed for specific areas, according to several people familiar with the discussions, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss private conversations. Aid groups have said safely evacuating people from Rafah is nearly impossible given the conditions in the rest of Gaza. Via the Washington Post
The report comes after Biden warned Israel that the U.S. would stop supplying weapons to them if the Israel Defense Forces launched an invasion into Rafah. D.C. bureaucrats have also urged Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu not to attack Rafah. However, Netanyahu has insisted that a ground invasion into the region is necessary to remove Hamas terrorists from power.
Biden is also taking heat for halting the shipment of heavy bombs and artillery to Israel in opposition to a potential Rafah invasion.
