The Israeli Prime Minister’s office “has indicated that they would like to find a new date to organize the meeting devoted to Rafah”, two days after violently canceling discussions planned for this week on the subject, a senior American official said on Wednesday. .
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“We are working with them to find a date,” he told AFP.
Israel, furious at the abstention of the United States during the vote on a resolution at the UN, decided on Monday not to send a delegation to Washington as planned, in order to discuss its planned offensive against the town of southern Gaza Strip.
Washington, Israel’s main ally, opposes any large-scale ground offensive against Rafah, where more than a million Palestinian civilians are refugees.
President Joe Biden personally asked Benjamin Netanyahu to send a delegation to the United States to discuss possible “alternatives.”
The Israeli Prime Minister, however, decided on Monday that this delegation would not make the trip, to protest against the decision of the United States to abstain during the vote on a United Nations resolution calling for an “immediate ceasefire » in Gaza.
The Americans said they were “surprised” by this reaction, affirming that they had not changed course in their support for Israel, and stressing on several occasions that in their opinion this resolution was not binding.