By Steve Holland and Matt Spetalnick
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Senior U.S. and Israeli officials will hold a virtual meeting on Thursday to discuss Israel’s plans for the southern Gaza city of Rafah as Washington seeks alternatives to an Israeli offensive, a U.S. official said.
The meeting is a follow-up to a similar meeting on April 1.
President Joe Biden has urged Israel not to launch a major offensive in Rafah to avoid more Palestinian civilian casualties in Gaza, where Palestinian health authorities say more than 32,000 people were killed in the Israeli attack.
The meeting comes as Israel considers launching an attack on Iranian targets in response to Iran’s launch of a barrage of drones and ballistic missiles against Israel last weekend.
Washington is trying to deter the Israelis from carrying out retaliatory strikes to avoid further inflaming an already tense situation, a second US official said.
Israeli Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer and National Security Adviser Tzachi Hanegbi are again expected to lead the Israeli delegation in the virtual talks, a person familiar with the matter said.
Plans for face-to-face talks on Rafah have been postponed in the wake of the Iranian drone and missile attack on Israel, the source said.
In Ramallah, the Palestinian government called on the Biden administration to “immediately intervene to stop the ongoing Israeli aggression against our Palestinian people.”
(Reporting by Steve Holland, Matt Spetalnick in Washington and Ali Sawafta in Ramallah; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama)
