U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Sunday that Israel has failed to reveal a "credible" plan to mitigate Palestinian deaths in Rafah, the Gazan city where more than a million civilians are sheltering from bombardment or running for their lives.
He also said the bombings may have little real effect on eradicating Hamas.
"Right now, the trajectory that Israel is on — even if it goes in and takes heavy action in Rafah — there will still be thousands of armed Hamas left," he said on NBC's "Meet the Press."
"The trajectory right now is that going into Rafah, even to deal with these remaining battalions, especially in the absence of a plan for civilians, risks doing terrible harm to civilians and not solving the problem."
Nevertheless, Blinken claimed there was no "double standard" for Israel and insisted the nation is held to same account as any other nation.
The population of Rafah has swelled to more than a million people in recent months, with most fleeing from bombings in other parts of Gaza.
President Joe Biden, Blinken and other American officials have repeatedly warned Israel that invading Rafah would be a "mistake" that would endanger the already vulnerable civilian population.
More than 34,000 Palestinians have been killed in retaliatory attacks after a Hamas assault early last October on Israel that killed 1,200 people and kidnapped hundreds of hostages.
