A break in US and Israel relations following UN Gaza resolution – “No sign of an invasion of Rafa”

The relations between the United States and Israel since Washington abstained from the UN Security Council, which adopted a resolution on the “direct implementation of a ceasefire”. However, the US states that they find a way to convey to Israel their “anxiety” with regard to an Israeli military operation in Rafa, after the visit of an Israeli delegation to Washington was cancelled, in protest of the UN resolution demanding the immediate cease-fire in the Gaza Strip. Israel cancelled the visit because the US abstained from voting in the Security Council, instead of vetoing as they have so far done in previous resolutions. “I’m sure we’ll find other means to convey our concerns to them,” State Department spokesman Matthew Miller told reporters, characterising “sudden and unfortunate” the decision to cancel the visit. He added that Foreign Minister Anthony Blinken would probably discuss Rafa’s issue with Israel’s Defence Minister Joav Galland, whose separate visit to Washington was not cancelled. White House spokesman John Kirby confirmed that Galland will meet with his American counterpart Lloyd Austin tomorrow. “We believe that such a large-scale invasion would be wrong and not only because of the enormous danger to civilians,” Miller said. According to the spokesman, the Israeli government did not present a coherent plan to remove 1.4 million people from Rafa. Most of them fled there to escape the bombings in the northern Gaza Strip. “This kind of invasion would weaken Israel’s security” and “would harm its position in the world,” Miller insisted. Kirby on his part said that Washington has no clues, nor has he seen any plan to invade Rafa within the next few days. Earlier, an American official who spoke anonymously to a group of journalists said issues of internal political tensions probably led Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to the decision not to send a delegation to Washington for talks. He said that President Joe Biden does not intend to speak by phone with Netanyahu on this issue and that Netanyahu had not informed him in advance of his decision. An outrage in Israel over the U.S. abstention from the vote Immediately after the UN Security Council adopted the resolution, Israel cancelled its delegation’s visit to the US, stating that the US abstention “blocks” its war effort and efforts to free hostages detained in Gaza. “This is a clear withdrawal from the U.S. firm position in the Security Council since the start of the war” the Israeli Prime Minister’s office said in its announcement. For its part, Hamas “welcome to the Security Council’s call for immediate ceasefire” while the Palestinian Authority called “to stop this criminal war permanently”. The resolution requires a ceasefire for the month of Ramadan (which started two weeks ago) and which should lead to a “permanent ceasefire” and is also called for “the immediate and unconditional release of all hostages”. The non-application of the resolution would be “unforgivable” disavowed UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres. A little earlier, however, Israel’s defence minister stated that his country “does not have the moral right to stop the war while there are hostages in Gaza”, thwarting international hopes of a halt to hostilities.