Israel Gaza: The operation in Rafah does not cross American red lines – The White House

White House spokesman John Kirby said that the United States does not believe that Israel launched a large-scale invasion of Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip.

He spoke hours after Israeli forces arrived in the city center and reportedly captured a strategically important hill overlooking the nearby border with Egypt.

US President Joe Biden had said earlier that launching a large-scale invasion in Rafah, where hundreds of thousands of civilians are believed to still be taking shelter, would be crossing a red line.

Mr Kirby was also questioned about an Israeli air strike and resulting fire that killed at least 45 Palestinians in a displacement camp on Sunday.

Israel said it believed the fire may have been caused by weapons stored in the vicinity as a result of a Hamas explosion.

Kirby told reporters that images from Sunday’s raid, which killed mostly women, children and the elderly, were “heartbreaking” and “horrific.”

He added: “There should be no loss of innocent lives here as a result of this conflict.”

But he acknowledged that Israel was investigating the incident, and said he had “no policy change to speak to” in the wake of recent events in Rafah.

“We still do not believe that a major ground operation is warranted… and we have not seen that at this stage,” he said.

When asked why the current operation did not meet the definition of a large-scale invasion, Kirby insisted that the president did not “move the baton.”

“We did not see them storming Rafah,” he said.

“We did not see them going in with large units and large numbers of troops in columns and formations in some kind of coordinated maneuver against multiple targets on the ground.”

President Biden said earlier this month that some weapons supplies to Israel would be halted in the event of a major ground operation in Rafah.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu described the attack that occurred on Sunday as a “tragic incident” and pledged to continue the Rafah operation.

The Israeli army said the raid targeted and killed two senior Hamas officials.

It said on Tuesday that its forces were continuing their activities against “terrorist targets” in Rafah, three weeks after launching the ground operation there.

Eyewitnesses reported that occupation tanks were stationed at Al-Awda Roundabout, which is considered one of the main landmarks.

Residents said that the western areas of the city were subjected to intense bombardment during Monday night and into Tuesday.

The Israeli military denied reports on Tuesday that its tank shells hit another camp in Al-Mawasi on the western coast of Rafah, which local officials said killed at least 21 people.

Videos of the incident posted on social media and analyzed by BBC Verify showed several people seriously injured.

There was no clear sign of an explosion area or crater, making it impossible to confirm the cause of the accident. The site – verified by reference to surrounding buildings – is located between Rafah and Al-Mawasi, and is located south of the humanitarian zone designated by the Israeli military.