O.Next.- The US estimates that the seizure of Rafá is part of a “limited operation” by Israel

Miller says it is a legitimate goal to try to deprive Hamas of the revenue it earns through the Rafah crossing.

MADRID, 7 (EUROPA PRESS)

The United States has estimated that the seizure of Rafah, in the south of the Gaza Strip, by Israel is part of a “limited operation”, since the Israeli Army has not entered the areas in which it has decreed a population displacement.

“This military operation that they launched last night had as its sole objective the Rafá crossing. It was not an operation in these civilian areas that had been ordered to be evacuated. We will continue to make it clear that we oppose a significant military operation,” he said in a conference call. press the spokesman for the United States Department of State, Matthew Miller.

In this sense, the Biden Administration has determined that Israel has not initiated a large-scale operation. “But, of course, that depends on what comes next,” he added, without specifying whether Washington will change its position if Israel finally decides to launch a major offensive.

Asked about the death of several children since the “limited operation” launched by Israel, Miller stressed that “every death, especially of children, is a tragedy, whether in Rafah or anywhere else.”

On the other hand, he specified that the closure of the Kerem Shalom crossing, as well as the closure of Rafá, “delay the delivery of humanitarian aid”, although he recalled that the first was closed after being bombed by the Islamic Resistance Movement ( Hamas).

Miller has also highlighted that “it is a legitimate objective to try to deprive Hamas” of the income it obtains through the Rafah crossing for its terrorist activities. “Another way could be found to open that crossing without Hamas controlling the Gaza side and collecting revenue, some of it illicit,” she said.

Hamas announced on Monday that it accepted the terms of a ceasefire agreement proposed by Qatar and Egypt, although Israeli authorities later did not agree to seal the agreement because they considered that it did not meet their demands. Hours after these events, the Israeli Army took the Rafah crossing, in the south of the Strip.