Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken during their meeting in Jerusalem on Wednesday that Israel would not agree to a deal that would force an end to its operation against Hamas in the Gaza Strip. 

Blinken said that the United States opposed the Israeli plan to launch a large-scale ground assault on Rafah, insisting that the Israeli side should first provide an appropriate humanitarian plan for the approximately 1.2 million displaced people in Gaza's southernmost city before mounting an attack.