2024-07-10 16:19:47
US State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said Israel’s recent military operation in Rafah was less destructive to civilians than previous operations in Gaza and Khan Younis.
Miller noted that although the Gaza Health Ministry does not distinguish between civilians and combatants, the number of casualties among Hamas terrorists in Rafah was comparatively lower.
He stressed that any number of civilian casualties was unacceptable and said damage assessments in Rafah were continuing to come in.
In April, US officials said the US and Egypt were in talks to build an underground wall along the Philadelphi Corridor to stop Hamas smuggling from the Sinai Peninsula. Miller, however, declined to confirm recent reports of such an initiative, stressing that cross-border smuggling from Egypt into Gaza was a real problem that needed to be addressed.
Smuggling from Egypt to Gaza is one way Hamas arms and finances its activities, posing a security threat to Israel and making peace more difficult for the Palestinian people. The United States is working with the Egyptian and Israeli governments to develop proposals to address this problem.
Earlier, Cursor reported that Egyptian officials criticized Netanyahu, accusing him of allegedly hindering efforts to reach a deal to free the hostages.