The US has not been briefed on the plans Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu approved on Friday for the invasion of Rafah White House National Security Spokesman John Kirby told reporters, saying the Biden administration would "welcome the opportunity to see it."
For weeks, the White House has maintained it would not support an Israeli invasion of Rafah without a credible evacuation plan for the more than 1.3 million Palestinians who have been seeking refuge in the Southern Gazan city.
"What we've seen today is Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office saying they have a plan that accounts for the operational aspect, the military aspect, and the evacuation aspect," Kirby said, repeating several times that the White House "welcomes" an opportunity to see the plan.
Accommodating a million and a half people in a confined environment with not a log of geography is "very tall order" for any military to do, Kirby said.
Over the weekend, President Joe Biden indicated an invasion of Rafah would be a "red line," a phrase which Kirby refused to answer questions about on Friday.
As tensions between Biden and Netanyahu have reached a boiling point in the past few days, marred by Sen. Chuck Schumer's comments on Thursday calling for elections to oust the prime minister, it's uncertain what communication Jerusalem will have with Washington as the invasion plans are solidified and put into action.
Aid to Gaza
Kirby recognized Friday's delivery of humanitarian aid from the private aid ship "Open Arms" and said the administration would like to see more aid get into Gaza from a variety of places. Kirby did not provide any update on the US ships en route to the Gaza coast to set up temporary piers to distribute aid.
Kirby noted President Biden's comments from Friday morning in the Oval Office in which he responded to a question about Sen. Chuck Schumer's call for elections in Israel.
Kirby said elections are going to be up to the Israeli people to decide.
"Biden spoke about the passion with which leader Schumer made that speech,and the President said that he knows that those remarks, they resonate with many Americans out there," Kirby said. "For our part, we're going to keep supporting Israel and their fight against Hamas. We're going to keep urging them to reduce civilian casualties and we're going to keep working together to put a temporary ceasefire in place so we can get the hostages back home with their families and more additional aid into the people of Gaza."
The White House wouldn't say if Biden has spoken to Schumer since his comments Thursday.
Hostage deal
Kirby expressed "cautious optimism" about the latest hostage deal on the table, calling the proposal "within the bounds" of the deal the White House and partners have been working on for months.
"The fact that there's another delegation now heading to Doha, the fact that there's proposals out there that there are conversations about it, that's all good," Kirby said.
Though Kirby said the "devils in the details" and "nothing's negotiated until everything is negotiated."
The US will not be sending a delegation to Doha.