US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Wednesday that Israel’s initial operation in Rafah has had a “negative impact” despite limited steps the country took under US pressure to bolster aid access in the Gaza Strip.
“One of the deep concerns that we have is the impact of this limited operation that we’ve seen to date in Rafah on the ability to provide humanitarian assistance,” Blinken said. "The two main points of access in the south — Rafah itself and Kerem Shalom — have been affected by the resulting conflict."
A State Department report to Congress last week determined that Israel’s “action or inaction” had “contributed significantly” to the lack of sustained aid flowing into Gaza during the seven-month war.
After deadly Israeli strikes on a World Central Kitchen convoy in April, Israel pledged to facilitate more aid access, including by opening the Erez crossing into northern Gaza, permitting the temporary use of Ashdod port in southern Israel and expanding the operational capacity of its existing aid access points.
“At the very time when Israel was taking important and much-needed steps to improve the provision of humanitarian assistance to Palestinians in Gaza, we’ve seen a negative impact on the fact that we have this very active conflict in the Rafah area,” Blinken said.
The Israeli military seized the Rafah border crossing but has blamed Egypt for its continued closure. Aid access remains limited at Kerem Shalom, southern Gaza’s other entry point for food, water and fuel.
More than 450,000 Palestinians have fled the crowded city since Israel issued partial evacuation orders on May 6, according to the UN agency for Palestinian refugees.
The Financial Times reported Wednesday that the Biden administration is in talks with Arab states including Morocco, Egypt and the United Arab Emirates to participate in a peacekeeping force in Gaza when the war is over. White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan is traveling to Saudi Arabia and Israel this week, according to Axios, and is expected to discuss postwar plans.
