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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
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Some of Darwish's last words
"They see their tomorrows slipping out of their reach. And though it seems to them that everything outside this reality is heaven, yet they do not want to go to that heaven. They stay, because they are afflicted with hope." - Mahmoud Darwish, to attendees of the Palestine Festival of Literature, 2008
His life in brief: Born in a village near Galilee, he lived in exile for most of his life and started writing poetry after high school. He was arrested several times by Israel for what were deemed to be inciteful poems. Most of his work focused on the love and yearning for his homeland, and he was regarded the Palestinian poet of resistance. Over the course of his life, he published more than 30 poetry collections and books of prose, with his work translated into more than 20 languages. Many of his poems were set to music by Arab composers, most significantly Marcel Khalife. Darwish died on August 9, 2008 after undergoing heart surgery in the United States. He was later buried in Ramallah where a shrine was erected in his honour.
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Ain Issa camp:
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