US Vice President Kamala Harris has suggested that there could be “consequences” for Israel if it goes ahead with a threatened invasion of Rafah in the Gaza Strip, where most of the territory’s population has taken refuge from deadly and indiscriminate bombardment.
Around 1.4 million people are believed to be crowded into the city, which lies on Gaza’s southern border with Egypt.
"We have been clear in multiple conversations and in every way that any major military operation in Rafah would be a huge mistake," Harris told ABC News.
"Let me tell you something: I have studied the maps. There's nowhere for those folks to go," Harris added.
Israel’s brutal and indiscriminate war on the Gaza Strip, which began after a surprise Hamas attack on Israel last October, has left most of the territory in ruins and killed over 32,000 people, most of them women and children.
The US has backed Israel militarily and diplomatically throughout its devastating assault on the territory but there have been increasing signs of US discontent at the way Israel is conducting its war.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has persisited in his threats to invade Rafah despite US President Joe Biden expressing “deep concern” about the possibility.
Harris, who previously called for a six-week ceasefire in Gaza, said that while the US administration would deal with the situation “one step at a time”, it had been “very clear” in its opposition to the Rafah assault.
When asked by ABC News correspondent Rachel Scott whether she was “ruling out that there would be consequences from the United States?”, Harris replied, “I am ruling out nothing”.
