Netanyahu offered few details about the Rafah military operation outside of confirming it would happen.
“It will happen, there is a date,” he said in a statement one day after Israel withdrew all but one brigade from southern Gaza to rest.
The Biden administration has tried to push Israel away from a major operation in Rafah, where more than a million Palestinians are sheltering from the war the Israeli military is waging against Hamas.
More than 33,000 Palestinians have died in the war and the Gaza strip is suffering from a major humanitarian crisis.
But Israel says it must move into the city to defeat Hamas in retaliation for the deadly Oct. 7 attacks when Palestinian militants invaded southern Israel, killing some 1,200 people and taking another 240 hostages, with around 100 still left alive.
The war is becoming divisive in the U.S. among Democrats, and Biden is facing protests and pressure to call for a ceasefire from his left.
Nearly one-third of Americans in a new poll said Israel has gone too far in the war, higher than the 27 percent who say Israel is justified.
Among Democrats, 51 percent say Israel has gone too far, compared to 11 percent of Republicans.
CIA Director Bill Burns is in Cairo, Egypt, amid ongoing negotiations to reach a ceasefire and hostage release deal.
White House national security spokesperson John Kirby said a proposal has been sent to Hamas and they are waiting for a response.
“We really want to come to closure on a hostage deal as soon as possible,” he told reporters.
Biden and Netanyahu had a tense phone call last week after an Israeli strike killed seven aid workers, which Israel attributed to forces mistakenly referring to them as Hamas fighters.
After the call, Netanyahu’s office also announced a new humanitarian aid corridor in the northern part of the strip.
More than 300 aid trucks got through into Gaza on Sunday, according to Kirby, who said he welcomed the action from Israel but stressed they would have to see positive steps over time.
“What it comes down to is sustainability,” he said, “and a commitment to follow through.”
Read the full report at TheHill.com.
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