President Biden and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu laid out contradictory "red lines" about the war in Gaza in recent days that could put them on a collision course if Israel invades Rafah in southern Gaza in the next few weeks, three U.S. officials told Axios.
Why it matters: U.S. officials say an Israeli military operation in Rafah would likely lead to a significant shift in U.S. policy — including an end to the defense of Israel at the United Nations and restrictions on the use of U.S. weapons by Israeli Defense Forces in Gaza.
Netanyahu has effectively said his red line is that Israel must go into Rafah.
More than one million Palestinian civilians, many of them displaced by the war, are sheltering in Rafah.
In an interview on Saturday, Biden was asked whether an Israeli military operation in Rafah was a red line for the administration.
"Yes it is," Biden replied.
Biden had earlier raised concerns about an Israeli operation in the city and demanded Netanyahu present a credible and implementable plan for protecting civilians there, but this was the first time he referred to an invasion as a red line.
A day later, Netanyahu pushed back in an interview. "We'll go there [to Rafah]. I have a red line," he said. "You know what the red line is? That October 7 doesn't happen again.
Never happens again."'
Two U.S. officials said one of the options discussed internally between the White House, the State Department and the Pentagon is to impose restrictions on the use of U.S.-made offensive weapons by the IDF in Gaza.
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