The Biden administration is deeply concerned about an Israeli operation that rescued two hostages out of Rafah but may have also resulted in some one hundred Palestinians being killed as part of that operation, according to a senior administration official.
The hostages — 60-year-old Fernando Simon Marman and 70-year-old Louis Har — were rescued Monday morning after spending 128 days in captivity. The Palestinian Red Crescent Society (PRCS) said that more than 100 people were killed in strikes that the Israeli military carried out in Rafah overnight. It did not specify how many of those were militants.
For now, United States officials are still gathering information on details of the rescue operation, including how exactly the operation unfolded and how many civilians may have been killed, that official said. But such a high rate of Palestinian deaths would be deeply worrisome, according to the official, and comes as US President Joe Biden and US officials have been warning Israel about their preparation to make a ground incursion into Rafah.
More background: Tension between Biden's administration and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government has intensified in recent days as Israel has said that it is preparing to go into Rafah. US officials have expressed strong concerns to their Israeli counterparts about the feasibility of safely moving the large civilian population out of the area, many of whom were forced to flee there since the beginning of the Israel-Hamas war.
The hostages — 60-year-old Fernando Simon Marman and 70-year-old Louis Har — were rescued Monday morning after spending 128 days in captivity. The Palestinian Red Crescent Society (PRCS) said that more than 100 people were killed in strikes that the Israeli military carried out in Rafah overnight. It did not specify how many of those were militants.
For now, United States officials are still gathering information on details of the rescue operation, including how exactly the operation unfolded and how many civilians may have been killed, that official said. But such a high rate of Palestinian deaths would be deeply worrisome, according to the official, and comes as US President Joe Biden and US officials have been warning Israel about their preparation to make a ground incursion into Rafah.
More background: Tension between Biden's administration and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government has intensified in recent days as Israel has said that it is preparing to go into Rafah. US officials have expressed strong concerns to their Israeli counterparts about the feasibility of safely moving the large civilian population out of the area, many of whom were forced to flee there since the beginning of the Israel-Hamas war.
