Live updates: Follow the latest on Israel-Gaza
Washington has not approved Israel's impending military operation in Rafah, a senior US official said on Wednesday.
Asked whether the US had signed off on the invasion of the city in the southern Gaza Strip, Barbara Leaf, assistant secretary of state for Near Eastern affairs, said: “Absolutely not. “I cannot confirm that we have done any such thing. We have not greenlighted a military operation.”
Ms Leaf’s comments come as reports have circulated that Israel has conducted all of the necessary preparations for an offensive in the city.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has long maintained that in order to completely defeat Hamas, Israel must enter Rafah, where it believes four Hamas battalions remain.
“Israel is moving ahead with our operation to target Hamas in Rafah,” government spokesman David Mencer told a press briefing on Wednesday.
“The four battalions which remain in Rafah cannot be shielded from Israel. They will be attacked.”
Rafah is the last refuge for more than one million Palestinians who have already been forced to flee their homes in other parts of the strip.
Date set for Rafah invasion, says Netanyahu – video
Washington has repeatedly urged Israel to come up with a plan that adequately protects civilians before launching its military operation in the city, which abuts Egypt.
“We've been quite clear publicly and privately that there is no question of a military operation, major or slightly less than major, being undertaken in circumstances in which you have over a million people crowded into a very small space in the vicinity of Rafah,” Ms Leaf said.
Vedant Patel, deputy spokesman for the State Department, added that the US had consistently made its views clear on any potential invasion of Rafah.
“We are having these conversations, they're ongoing, obviously,” he said.
“In the broader sense of the conflict, we have stressed the moral and strategic imperative of protecting civilians and making sure that every possible step is taken to protect and minimise civilian casualties.
“But on the topic of an operation in Rafah, this is a conversation that we're going to continue to have.”
AFP contributed to this report
UAE - India ties
The UAE is India’s third-largest trade partner after the US and China
Annual bilateral trade between India and the UAE has crossed US$ 60 billion
The UAE is the fourth-largest exporter of crude oil for India
Indians comprise the largest community with 3.3 million residents in the UAE
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi first visited the UAE in August 2015
His visit on August 23-24 will be the third in four years
Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces, visited India in February 2016
Sheikh Mohamed was the chief guest at India’s Republic Day celebrations in January 2017
Modi will visit Bahrain on August 24-25
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Co-operation on security initiatives and procurement of defence products
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Cutting red tape on import and export of food
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SANCTIONED
- Kirill Shamalov, Russia's youngest billionaire and previously married to Putin's daughter Katarina
- Petr Fradkov, head of recently sanctioned Promsvyazbank and son of former head of Russian Foreign Intelligence, the FSB.
- Denis Bortnikov, Deputy President of Russia's largest bank VTB. He is the son of Alexander Bortnikov, head of the FSB which was responsible for the poisoning of political activist Alexey Navalny in August 2020 with banned chemical agent novichok.
- Yury Slyusar, director of United Aircraft Corporation, a major aircraft manufacturer for the Russian military.
- Elena Aleksandrovna Georgieva, chair of the board of Novikombank, a state-owned defence conglomerate.
Punchy appearance
Roars of support buoyed Mr Johnson in an extremely confident and combative appearance
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if you go
The flights
Air France offer flights from Dubai and Abu Dhabi to Cayenne, connecting in Paris from Dh7,300.
The tour
Cox & Kings (coxandkings.com) has a 14-night Hidden Guianas tour of Guyana, Suriname and French Guiana. It includes accommodation, domestic flights, transfers, a local tour manager and guided sightseeing. Contact for price.
The five pillars of Islam
Ahmed Raza
UAE cricket captain
Age: 31
Born: Sharjah
Role: Left-arm spinner
One-day internationals: 31 matches, 35 wickets, average 31.4, economy rate 3.95
T20 internationals: 41 matches, 29 wickets, average 30.3, economy rate 6.28
Stree
Producer: Maddock Films, Jio Movies
Director: Amar Kaushik
Cast: Rajkummar Rao, Shraddha Kapoor, Pankaj Tripathi, Aparshakti Khurana, Abhishek Banerjee
Rating: 3.5
