US agrees to IDF Rafah operation in exchange for diminished Iran strike

Netanyahu reportedly promises to act with restraint against Iran, in exchange for American approval to invade Rafah.

By World Israel News Staff

Egyptian officials are gearing up for an Israeli invasion of Rafah, which the Biden administration reportedly approved in exchange for a promise from Israel that it would not launch an intense retaliatory attack on Iran.

“The American administration showed acceptance of the plan previously presented by [Israel] regarding the military operation in Rafah, in exchange for not carrying out a large-scale attack against Iran,” an unnamed official told Qatari-owned news site Al-Araby Al-Jadeed.

A Western diplomat confirmed that claim, stating that via “political maneuvering,” Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was able to “obtain American approval for the military operation in Rafah,” by promising to avoid a major counter-attack in Iran.

The Egyptian source told the outlet that Egypt is preparing for a mass influx of civilians from Rafah fleeing the fighting, who will likely seek refuge in the Sinai Desert.

Egypt has long refused to accept Gazan refugees, maintaining that doing so would pose a “security risk” to the country.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and war cabinet member Benny Gantz, the former defense minister, have repeatedly stressed that troops entering Rafah is critical for achieving the war’s goals of ousting Hamas from power in the Strip and securing the release of the some 130 hostages still held in the coastal enclave.

However, the Biden administration has balked at the prospect of a ground invasion of the city, demanding that Israel develop an evacuation plan for the some 1.2 million civilians in Rafah before an incursion.

Although Netanyahu recently insisted that a date for an invasion of Rafah “has been set,” Defense Minister Yoav Gallant told his American counterpart, Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin, that the timing of the incursion was not yet established.